The Return
by Kohaku no Hime
Summary: Christmas surprises await Yugi and Ryou, but there are troubled stirrings on the horizon, ones that threaten to dwarf humanity...no pairings, set post series. Complete.
1. Reunion

_Funny how time flies._

_I started this story in my sophomore year of high school, fully intending it to never be more than a oneshot. And then someone challenged me to make it more than that, and this is what I end up with. Truly a Cinderella story._

_After going through this story countless times to make sure grammar was acceptable, that the plot was polished enough to pass scrutiny, and being a slave to many reviewers, I finally have polished everything that I published years ago. It should flow smoother and be an easier read than it was two years ago._

_A reminder: this is non-yaoi. I also own nothing but the plot and my OC's, so no stealing it please. Any flames will be reported, and I do not hesitate._

_Without further ado, you may read._

_EDIT: Thanks to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out a rather embarrasing typo. Honestly, I have no idea how that happened D8_

* * *

Ryou could tell that it was going to snow soon. Those thick and gray clouds above him certainly were indicators of the weather; he'd learned to recognize when it was about to snow, even as a child. As he walked outside he wondered idly what Bakura would think about the snow; the old thief usually made his thoughts clear when it came to anything cold related.

Only a second passed, however, before Ryou remembered that he didn't need to worry about Bakura's reaction anymore: the old spirit was gone.

Four months ago the Millennium Items had been lost to the depths of the earth, sealed away forever. The Pharaoh had returned to the afterlife—as had Bakura, if one existed for the old thief. Despite everything the thief had put him through, Ryou often times found himself wishing that the tomb robber had found a peaceful paradise waiting for him on the other side. He'd heard from Yugi about the trauma Bakura had undergone, and though it did not diminish his actions it still warranted pity.

His life had resumed, of course, now that there was no longer any crazed Yami running his life. Yugi and his friends had asked him over to the Turtle Game Shop for a small Christmas party and Ryou had no desire to be late for it; it was the first party he had been to in his memory, since Bakura usually had forced him to stay away from such activities.

"Hey girly boy, wait up!" sneered an evil voice abruptly, breaking into his thoughts.

Ryou let out another sigh and quickened his pace, hoping to outrun the group of boys he could hear snickering behind him. They had not given Ryou any peace at all—since his first day at middle school, in fact—and they comprised of three seniors who immensely disliked the soft-spoken boy. The best that Ryou could figure, it had something to do with their old P.E. coach.

Ryou continued to walk as quickly as he could manage without making it appear as if he was running; Bakura had often warned him of such an occurrence, and so it was out of habit that he did not immediately start running. He didn't know the names of any of them—hadn't bothered to learn them, in fact—but he did know their appearances and knew when to duck out of sight whenever they showed up.

"Yo, girly! We just wanna talk to ya about bein' a man!" said one boy, shooting past him to step in his immediate path. Ryou inwardly rolled his eyes—if these boys even knew the half of what he had been through they would probably run home with their tails between their legs

Almost as if his thoughts had been read, a sardonic voice called out from behind them."Look in the mirror sometime, guys. You don't even the meaning of the word."

Noa Kaiba stepped out from the doorway of the school—where he had been waiting for Seto to pick him up— watching boredly as Ryou and the small group directed their attention to him. Despite the fact that the boy was only marginally taller than Yugi (and was fairly sensitive on the subject), the mint haired boy was no pushover; the boy had a razor-sharp wit about him that was evident whenever he opened his mouth.

The fact that Seto Kaiba was his stepbrother also helped things.

Ryou found letting out a small sigh of relief at the familiar face. He had met Noa two months ago when he had first arrived, and after a rough start had become close friends with the boy. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Ryou had been unconditionally accepting of Noa at a time where others weren't; perhaps not. But either way, the two of them had become friends.

"Yeah, greenie, and you think you're so tough with your stupid brother standing behind you…but we ain't afraid of him, are we?" said a black haired boy, grabbing Noa by the collar of his school jacket and hoisting him into the air.

Noa regarded the other teen coolly. "You should be, Sir Smells-A-Lot. My 'stupid' stepbrother owns half the city."

If it weren't for the fact that it was absolutely true, Ryou might have laughed.

The antagonist growled, hoisting Noa into the air higher. "I'll teach you to mouth off to me," he growled angrily.

Ryou watched this in alarm, moving forward to assist Noa. Before he could take even one step closer to them, though, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled his arm behind his back painfully, halting any further movement.

Noa had not struggled at all when the foul-smelling boy had grabbed him. It seemed that Noa really had no need to, for he was looking beyond the boys assembled and now had a grin plastered to his face. "Hey, Seto."

The raven haired teen holding him had just enough time to visibly start before he turned and met a fist connecting with his face. He howled, holding his nose and dropping Noa; the mint-haired boy landed lightly on his feet, scowling at the gang. Most likely, thought Ryou with a grimace, the nose was broken.

Seto Kaiba ignored the pained wails and agonized cries, his attention drawn solely to the other members of the gang. The brunette gave a cursory glance to Ryou's predicament. "Let go of him," he snapped coldly, his eyes boring holes into the other teen's eyes.

The pressure on his arm lessened abruptly and his captor released him, stepping back fearfully. He'd already let go of him and had started running. His friends followed suit, the injured teen whimpering as he held his nose.

The two Kaiba brothers watched with identical dark looks and narrowed eyes until the gang had completely vanished around the corner. When they were out of sight, Noa let out a sigh of relief and turned to the taller Kaiba. "Any later, Seto, and you might have had to wipe me up with a mop."

"Maybe I shouldn't have come at all. It seemed like you had the situation under control," replied Seto in a bored tone of voice.

Noa shook his head, looking to Ryou with a grin. "It's so ridiculously easy to get under his skin…you okay?"

"I'm fine, though my arm just hurts a little bit," Ryou replied with a nervous smile.

"Seems to me like that guy forgot a key factor about your arm—it's attached to your body."

Ryou laughed aloud, reaching down to get his schoolbag. As he grasped its handle, he suddenly remembered what he had been doing before the gang had arrived. "Oh no, I'm late!" he cried anxiously, picking up his bag and turning for the school gate.

"Ryou, hold up!" Noa called after him. "We're heading that way anyways. Wanna catch a ride with us?"

Ryou ran through his options quickly before sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "I would be grateful to you if you did."

"'Kay, no prob. Oi, Seto! We're going to take Ryou here to Yugi's place!" called Noa after the retreating back of the CEO.

"Whatever, Noa. While you're at it, be sure to invest in a bullhorn—I'm pretty sure that Canada didn't hear your announcement."

Noa made a face and stuck his tongue petulantly at the other teen. "Smarty pants," he grumbled, earning another laugh from the white haired teen beside him. He took a few steps forward before looking back at Ryou and asking, "You coming?"

Ryou started, nodding as he followed after him. "Thanks for giving me a ride," he said gratefully.

The other boy shrugged. "No biggie. Seto's anti-drug is working himself into insanity. And as for those seniors, they were asking for a whooping. Jounouchi had a run-in with them a while back, and they were raising Cain when I first got here for my hair color," replied Noa easily.

He looked up at Ryou and frowned. "I noticed they caught you off guard. If you're going to interfere with something like that, you're going to have to react faster than that."

Ryou nodded mutely, remembering how easily he had been detained. "I'll certainly try harder," he said, though he knew he would likely be getting some practice later. That particular group of boys were likely to try and harass him again.

**_They wouldn't pick on you so much if you actually bothered to defend yourself, moron._**

Ryou stopped moving entirely, eyes widening in disbelief. No…it was not possible…he'd just been hearing things. He couldn't have…it wasn't possible!

Nonetheless, he tentatively tried the mental link. He had to make sure that it wasn't…he'd probably imagined it._ B-Bakura? Is that you?_

Not to his surprise, there was no answer.

"Ryou?" asked Noa concernedly, noticing his taller friend's sudden and abrupt halt. "You comin'?"

Realizing that he was worrying his friend, Ryou put a smile on his face and said, "I was trying to figure out if I had left anything in my locker, but I have everything. Shall we go?"

He hated lying, but he really did not want to have to explain to Noa that he had possibly heard the voice of a five-thousand year old tomb robber in his head.

* * *

As it turned out, Ryou barely avoided being late to the Christmas party at the Turtle Game Shop. Noa and Seto both declined from the friendly invitation that Yugi offered them as they had walked in the door (mainly because Seto had an inordinate amount of work to complete before Christmas arrived, but also because his pride probably would not have let him stay).

"I hope he chokes on his coffee," muttered Jounouchi with narrowed brown eyes as Seto disappeared from view. "He thinks he's too good for us."

"Jounouchi, be nice," said Anzu distractedly as she helped Yugi put up a Christmas wreath above the doorway. "It's Christmas and he has a lot to do. Give him a break."

"Christmas is three days away, Zuzu."

Anzu whirled on the blonde with a death glare on her face, and Jounouchi inadvertently backed up. "Don't call me 'Zuzu', Jounouchi Katsuya, unless you want to die an early, slow, and painful death," she said coldly, eyes flashing.

"Y-Yes ma'am."

Anzu now turned to Ryou, her blue eyes no longer spelling death; they were radiating concern. "Are you feeling well, Ryou? You look distracted."

The white haired boy hesitated, uncertain as to whether or not tell the others about hearing Bakura's voice. The subject was rather tender for the others to talk about—seeing how as Bakura had nearly succeeded in killing them all at one time or another "Oh, um...my father's out of the country on another business trip and he won't be home in time for Christmas," said Ryou at last, easily avoiding saying anything about his Yami.

"That sucks, Ryou," said Honda, munching on a Christmas cookie. He swallowed and looked over at the silver haired boy. "Why does your dad have to travel so much, anyway?"

"Because my father is the curator of the museum and his job requires him to travel a lot," replied Ryou, helping himself to fruit punch. "But enough about me. Let's get this party started, shall we?"

Jounouchi grinned. "All right! That's the kind of talk I wanna hear. Let's do it!" he cried, immediately heading for the buffet table with a greedy light in his eyes.

The festivities lasted for a full three hours; gifts were exchanged, happy laughter echoing through the house and delighted smiles lighting all of their faces. But all good things must come to an end, and so the group departed from the shop late into the night. Ryou was the last one to leave.

"Ryou?" asked Yugi tentatively as the boy shrugged into his overcoat.

"Yes, Yugi?"

"...Have you heard anything from Bakura?"

Ryou stiffened as the question registered, alarm flashing through him before he pulled his face into a carefully controlled mask. Had Yugi realized that he had been lying earlier? "Why?" he asked at last, avoiding answering the question once again. "Have you heard anything from the Pharaoh?"

Yugi shrugged sheepishly, the intent look vanishing to be replaced by an awkward smile. "I don't really know…I just had a thought. Don't worry about it," he continued with a laugh. "Have a merry Christmas, Ryou!"

"You too, Yugi," replied Ryou with a warm smile as he exited the shop. Once he had gotten outside of the little store and he had begun walking for home, his thoughts returned to his Yami.

Frankly, Ryou had actually never remembered what his other half had done whenever Bakura had taken over his body. He had become aware of his presence during the Duelist Kingdom tournament and later on in Battle City. Bakura had rarely ever come to the defense of his Hikari; whenever he had, Bakura claimed that he needed Ryou's physical body to stay alive himself.

Ryou had no idea how many times Bakura had been banished to the Shadow Realm; he only remembered one time out of the countless others. Towards the end of the Pharaoh's stay in the mortal plane, it seemed that the Pharaoh sent Bakura to the Shadow Realm more out of habit than anything else—it would be too much to hope for that the stubborn thief would stay put.

But still...his Yami had actually come to his aid more than once; he'd defended him from bad people, hadn't he? Would he be glad to see the tomb robber...if somehow he had returned?

He sighed. "This whole mess is a bother," he said aloud.

* * *

Yugi stared out into the night sky through the sky light in his room, mulling over several thoughts.

He'd gone to his room shortly after he'd helped Grandpa clean up the mess left from the party and had laid down on his bed, puzzling over his thoughts. Yugi knew that both Atem and Bakura had passed on to the afterlife, so he really wasn't sure why he had asked Ryou if he'd heard anything from the tomb robber; perhaps it was due to the strange matter of his dreams.

All of them had started a few nights ago, each starting with Atem's return to the afterlife and each ending with his return to the present...but the details always varied in between. Sometimes Atem would just appear in a flash of light—other times, Atem would be in pain and disappear in a flash of smoke.

Yugi sincerely hoped that his other half was all right.

When the Pharaoh had left, it had felt as if a large part of his soul had vanished. Although he had been happy that the Pharaoh had finally found rest after spending thousands of years wandering restlessly, it had hurt to see him leave; in the days after Atem's departure, he'd been prone to small episodes of mild depression. As the time had passed, though, these episodes had soon faded to nothing. Atem was back where he belonged—that was all that mattered.

Tonight Yugi gazed into the sky, watching the stars twinkle merrily. The overhanging clouds had—for the moment, anyway—dissipated. The moon shone through a cloudy haze, softly bathing Yugi's room with faded moonlight. Yugi yawned and realized that he was tired; it was late, and he wanted to go to sleep. Changing into his pajamas, he climbed under the covers and continued to gaze into the sky. As he started to fall asleep he murmured softly, "I wish you were here, Atem."

As if in response, one star shone brighter than all the rest for a brief moment before fading once more.

* * *

"Thank you and come again soon," said the salesclerk in a false cheery voice, pretending to be awake for his sake and acting as if she cared.

Ryou nodded politely to her and took up his grocery bags. Stepping out into the cold night air, he shivered slightly before setting off once more for home. It had occurred to Ryou on his way back that he needed some important essentials from the grocery store and therefore he had stopped at the nearest store for them.

Ryou walked along steadily, lost in his own thoughts; the subject of his Yami weighed heavily on his mind and distracted him from everything else that was going on around him. It was not much of a surprise, therefore, when someone bumped into him.

"Oh dear, I'm dreadfully sorry!" he cried, returning to the present abruptly. "I wasn't watching where I was…going…"

He inwardly dratted his luck when he recognized who he had bumped into. Of all the people in the world, he had to run into those blasted seniors again; he'd walked into the black-haired member of the group, who now sported tape on his nose. It had been broken, he noted absently.

Ryou heard movement from behind him and knew that the other two members had closed off his only escape route. His gaze returned to the first teen and repressed a sigh—showing annoyance would not help him here. If anything, it would only provoke them. Instead, he said, "I have to be going home. These groceries will spoil if I don't."

"I don't think so," said one of the boys coolly, punching Ryou in the small of his back; Ryou gasped and fell to his knees. The grocery bags fell to the ground and the contents scattered all over the place. "We want to finish what we started, girly boy. And this time there isn't anyone to bail you out."

Noa's earlier warning came back in full force, and Ryou squared his shoulders resolutely. "Why don't you bother someone else for a change? I couldn't have done anything to deserve this," he said coolly, keeping an eye out for any abrupt movements as he put his back to the nearest wall.

When the seniors only chuckled and moved in closer, Ryou frowned and shifted his stance. Having a temperamental tomb robber share his body for several years had rubbed off, and since he knew it was not likely that anyone else was going to come for him he figured now was the time to enact a little self-defense.

A tall and skinny brunette stepped a little too close for Ryou's comfort and he moved, pivoting on his heel and bringing his elbow sharply into the older teen's midriff. The teenager grunted in surprise, doubling over, and Ryou instantly took advantage of it and slipped past him. When the shortest member of the group moved in the way as well, Ryou simply dodged the thrown punch and continued toward the alleyway entrance—at least until one of them tripped him and he went sprawling to the ground.

The wind was knocked from his lungs as he hit the cold concrete and stars burst in his vision. He found that all he could do was simply lie there, blinking in stunned confusion while his vision blurred and spun. Someone delivered a savage kick into his solar plexus and he let out a strangled gasp as large black dots began dance in his eyes.

**_Don't just lie there, you idiot—run!_**

Ryou froze, the angry sounding voice in his mind breaking the shock. He blinked away the cobwebs from his mind and stumbled to his feet. He managed to stumble forward a few tottering steps before finding himself on the ground once again, hardly able to breathe. _I can't get away…_he told the voice wearily.

**_Call for help._**

He ignored this latest suggestion, since he knew it would probably not do him much good. He was still trying to catch his breath and he doubted anyone would hear him; he dimly noted that it had started to snow, which told him that no one else was out to help him. He felt something collide with the back of his head and he cried out in pain, fighting to stay conscious.

**_STAY AWAKE, DESCENDENT!_**

No mistaking it now—very few people called him that. It had to be _him…_

_Sorry…I can't…_

As Ryou sank into unconsciousness, he thought that he heard a familiar voice call his name urgently, but he was too weak to respond to that gruff voice. Besides...he knew that Bakura couldn't help him anyways.

_Dead people can't help me._

And with that thought he sank into the darkness threatening to engulf his senses.

* * *

The three boys grinned savagely when they realized that Ryou had been knocked out. He had initially put up a fight, but thanks to a well placed kick he had been knocked unconscious and was now at the mercy to his tormentors. They all wasted no time, beginning to beat their hapless victim with ill-concealed delight.

"Aw man, my leg cramped up. It hurts!" complained one of them at last, backing away and bending down to massage his leg.

"Believe me, you will be wishing for that you had only an injured arm when I am through with you," said a venomous voice darkly.

The three boys started violently and turned in unison.

A figure stood in the entrance to the alleyway, his features obscured by the gathered shadows. His brown eyes were flashing dangerously, filled with a warning and a darkness that chilled them all to the bone; the boys could see the almost crimson orbs dimly reflected by the moonlight.

As they watched, the other teen stepped further into the light, revealing his appearance in a beam of moonlight. He bent down to where their unconscious victim lay, gently placing his fingers to the base of Ryou's neck. Something that briefly looked like relief softened his features some, but was instantly gone as he rose to his feet. The malevolent look was once more in place.

"Dude…he looks exactly like Girly Boy…" whispered one of the gathered seniors, eyes wide.

"Wh-who are you?" asked another one nervously, clutching his arm.

The figure said nothing for a moment. But then a dangerous smile lit his face and the gang shrank back in fear.

"I…am your worst nightmare."

* * *

Yugi, meanwhile, was having troubles of his own.

He had initially been fast asleep in the grips of a deep and dreamless sleep, but now something had entered his thoughts and he found that he was stumbling around, trapped in a nightmarish scenario in his mind.

_Yugi finally stopped walking, looking around him in confusion and grim alertness. The only light that he could see was a soft glow, which seemed to be emanating from his own body. But beyond that, the inky blackness around him threatened to swallow him in its depths._

_Something menacing and evil lurked just out of his line of sight and he only knew that it was there because he could hear it growling and snarling savagely at him. He shivered reflexively, rubbing his arms in an attempt to keep warm; it had gotten suddenly colder in this wretched place._

_Another snarl sounded closer to him and Yugi took a step backward, gasping for breath. The darkness all around him made Yugi feel as if he was slowly being suffocated. "Who's there?" he said sharply, peering uncertainly in the darkness._

_Suddenly a black furred creature appeared in front of him, crouching down in front of him and snarling savagely; instinct made Yugi duck an exploratory but deadly swipe of its taloned paw. It was half human, half wolf; its yellow, bloodshot eyes were full of a murderous light and his talons extended towards Yugi menacingly. It gave a guttural growl and advanced on him, saliva coming out of his mouth in small rivers. Another creature joined the first one and also advanced on Yugi. _

_Yugi's eyes narrowed, backing away slowly from the creatures as he tried to come up with a plan. When the animals tried to attack him again, however, Yugi decided that perhaps trying to fight two monsters with no weapons was not the smartest thing he could do. He waited until one of the creatures snarled at the other and tried to attack its companion before he turned and fled._

_He was not certain how long or how far he ran in the darkness, aware of the creature's snarls and his own ragged gasps for air as he ran, but the chase ended as something heavy crashed on top of Yugi's back and dragged him to the ground. Yugi placed his hands over the back of his neck at the last second to protect himself, just as he felt fangs slash into his arm_

_He yelled in pain, trying to get up, but the creature would not let him go so easily. He fought against it for a few more minutes before he realized that it was futile—he could not get away. It was more out of panic than anything else that made Yugi call a name he had not used in months._

"ATEM!"

_A blinding light suddenly filled the darkness and the beasts howled in pain, stepping away from Yugi and whimpering fearfully at the light that they instinctively feared. Yugi rolled onto his back, sitting up and watching with wide, purple eyes as the light pierced the dark shadows around him._

**_RETURN TO THE SHADOWS FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!_**

_The thundering and authoritative voice broke through the oppressive and thick darkness as easily as a knife. The words that were spoken quivered in the air, filled with a power and cold regality that was so achingly familiar…and the funny thing was that it was almost as if the speaker was right behind him…_

_Almost immediately, the creatures vanished in a puff of black smoke with howls of anger and pain, unable to stand up to the light. Yugi rolled back onto his back and simply lay there, basking in the warm light…there was no telling how long it would last until those creatures returned once again._

_He felt a pair of hands gently grip his shoulders and help him sit up once again. Yugi blinked, confused, and turned to the owner of the hands to thank them._

_The words died in his throat._

_Atem was the one who was supporting him._

_Nothing had changed about the former ruler since he had left four months ago; even the outfit he wore was the same, from when he had last dueled Yugi before he entered the afterlife. Other than the fact that he was noticeably taller than Yugi and his golden bangs were arranged differently than Yugi's were, he looked as if he could pass off as Yugi's older brother._

_Currently, he was kneeling beside Yugi, his matching violet eyes narrowed in concern. "Yugi, are you all right?" he asked, examining him briefly before determining that the shorter boy was all right._

_"I-I'm fine," Yugi said shakily, staring at his Yami with wide eyes. "Are you a part of my dream, Pharaoh, or is it really you?"_

_"...It's really me, Yugi," said Atem, looking at him with a warm smile on his face. "I am truly here."_

_"But...I don't understand. You're supposed to be in the afterlife, aren't you?"_

_Atem opened his mouth to answer, but before he could the Puzzle around his neck flashed even brighter. The Pharaoh gave a gasp of pain and fell to his knees._

_"Atem!" said Yugi in alarm. He moved to assist his friend but found that a searing pain had filled his chest as well. It took everything he had not to scream. "Atem...what...?" he managed to choke out before another wave of pain enveloped him. _

_A swirling vortex suddenly appeared, drowning out the light around them and sucking the two boys into it. Yugi feebly reached out for his Yami as he fell, pain overwhelming his senses. "Atem!" he managed to gasp._

_His hand managed to take hold of Atem's for one brief moment. But his grip was not strong enough and he could not hold on to his other half, and Atem's hand was yanked violently from his own. He lost sight of the Pharaoh and continued to fall._

Yugi sat bolt upright with a scream, falling completely out of his bed and hitting his head on the nightstand as he fell to the floor; he lay there dazedly with his eyes closed, unable to do much else.

That dream…that one was decidedly different than all the others…

He heard footsteps come to him and someone pulled the upper half of Yugi's body off the ground, their voice calling his name urgently. Yugi frowned slightly, trying to determine who it was.

_Grampa...? No...that doesn't sound like Grampa..._

With an effort, Yugi forced himself to focus on this new voice.

"Yugi, answer me!" it called, its tone filled with urgency. The pitch of the voice was different, deeper than Grampa's own voice…it sounded almost like—

Yugi's eyes abruptly snapped open.

Atem's face filled his vision, his violet eyes—the ones that matched Yugi's own—full of concern, though they now filled with a relieved light when he saw Yugi awake. "Are you all right?"

Yugi sat up quickly, looking at his counterpart with disbelief. He was unable to believe that Atem was actually sitting in front of him, unable to believe that Atem was here in the flesh, unable to believe anything at that moment.

"It...It can't be...Atem…Atem, you're back!" he cried at last, enveloping his Yami in a hug. Atem, initially startled, returned it with a warm smile.

"But how is this possible?" asked Yugi, frowning in thought as he backed away from his friend.

Atem's smile faded and he suddenly looked serious. "Yugi, I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you," he said, looking moderately confused. "What I do know is that I'm mortal. I don't know much, but from what I can immediately tell I'm the same age that I was when my soul was sealed into the Millennium Puzzle," finished Atem, gesturing to the Millennium Puzzle around his neck with a wry smile.

Yugi stared at the golden Puzzle that hung around Atem's neck before looking up at Atem with something of alarm. "So does that mean that the Millennium Items are back?" he asked, suddenly gasping as a thought occurred to him. "Is Bakura back too?"

Atem held his hands, palms up, in the air. "One question at a time, Yugi," he chuckled, amusement briefly flickering in his eyes. "First of all, I don't know if my presence here means that Bakura is back; I suspect that he as well has returned, since he is directly linked to the Millennium items. As for your first question...I don't know, though if Bakura has indeed returned then the Millennium Ring is with him."

"And the afterlife? What was that like?"

Atem frowned for a moment, obviously thinking on the subject before a perplexed look appeared on his face. "Would you believe me if I told you that I have no memories of it?"

Yugi stared at him for a split second before he began to laugh. He couldn't help it, he knew it was the wrong thing to laugh at, but he simply could not hold the laughter in.

"This is going to be hard to explain to your friends," said Atem in amusement. Yugi nodded in agreement, realizing this as well. "What's happened since I left? I couldn't exactly keep track of things since I wasn't here," said his Yami, a trace of a smile on his face.

Yugi immediately began to fill him in, ignoring how tired he felt. He could always catch up on his sleep—he had a whole three weeks to do that— but not right at the moment.

He had Atem back. That was all that mattered now.

* * *

While he floated, he dreamed.

Ryou felt as if he was slowly drifting downward, staying in between consciousness and unconsciousness. Everything around him was a mixture of reality and darkness; he could not tell if he was dreaming. Everything was so surreal…

Now and then he heard someone crying out in pain; he wondered dimly if it was him. But how could it be him if he wasn't opening his mouth? He felt a brief and fiery pain sear through his chest, but the pain soon faded away to nothing. He could hear maniacal laughter more than once...laughter that was familiar to Ryou...

Slowly he became aware of his throbbing body, each inflicted injury seeming to cry out in protest. Ryou also became aware of the fact that someone was carrying him, bridal style, and ranting in Egyptian. After a few moments, his rescuer switched to something Ryou's muddled mind could understand.

"Of all the foolish mortals I've had to deal with, you are by far the most danger-prone one I've met. You have once again demonstrated your infallible ability to land yourself into a dangerous situation! Curse you, Ryou Bakura! Can't you even keep yourself out of trouble for a few months, you incompetent moron?"

Ryou tried to open his eyes, unable to grasp what he was hearing, but he was unable to muster the energy to do so. Could it be…? He moaned, finally prying his eyes open.

Bakura's face swam in and out of focus. His eyes were narrowed and he was looking down at Ryou with a half annoyed, half concerned look on his face. "About time you woke up, fool. We're almost to your home."

"...Bakura...how...?" mumbled Ryou feebly, unable to say much more. Ryou knew he was slowly returning to unconsciousness, but he desperately struggled not to do so. He focused all of his energy on Bakura's annoyed voice.

"He's nearly dead and he asks me how I got here...how should I know, you moron?" Bakura answered, his scowling face looking up to focus on what he was doing. "I haven't the foggiest how I got here! You manage to somehow call me back from the afterlife and I find that it's _snowing_. You have to be the most moronic mortal I've ever had to deal with!" he finished with a slightly exasperated tone in his voice. "Then, I find that you are bloody getting beaten to death and I had to send those sniveling cowards to the Shadow Realm! Really, is it impossible for you to stay out of trouble?"

"Bakura...you...you're worried about me…?" asked Ryou, realizing that the only reason Bakura would rant like this was if the old tomb robber genuinely had been concerned about Ryou's safety.

Sure enough, his Yami flushed. "Of course not! It's just that if you die then I'll have nowhere to stay and I'll have to go fend for myself…oh what's the use. Fine, I was _slightly_ worried about you. Happy now?" he growled in frustration, looking down at his Hikari with annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Now shut up and rest, you fool."

"But…the groceries…"

"Who cares? Shut up and lay still!" Bakura commanded with an annoyed growl. "We're almost back; I can see the house. You better hope that you have a key, because otherwise I'm kicking down the door."

From his vantage point, a mysterious cloaked figure watched the tomb robber carry his Hikari into a house. "Good. Both the Pharaoh and the tomb raider have returned now…looks like events are soon going to be set in motion," he murmured to himself.

He turned his cloak and vanished into the night.


	2. Old Friends, One Enemy

Yugi's eyes opened slowly, his mind remaining a blank.

Normally, Yugi was not a morning person; sometimes, he'd wake up to find himself in a location of the house with no idea how he had gotten there. He often times returned to sleep whenever he woke up; even now, Yugi was sorely tempted to fall back to sleep.

_I don't have to go for a whole two weeks..._Yugi thought sleepily, and he rolled over in his bed, nearly drifting back to sleep. The events of the night before suddenly flashed through his mind and he sat up in bed with a gasp.

Atem was back.

Yugi called for his Yami, fearful that Atem had left or that he had been dreaming the whole time and Atem had never even been there.

"Yes, Yugi?" replied a voice groggily.

Yugi's head whirled around to a chair in the corner of the room. Atem was resting in it and had a quilt draped over his body. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily, looking at Yugi with half open eyes.

Yugi broke into a smile; so his dream had actually happened. Atem was really here. "Good morning, Atem."

"Good—" (Atem yawned loudly in mid-sentence) "—morning, Yugi. Is something wrong?" he asked, amethyst eyes becoming sharper colored as he regarded Yugi.

The shorter boy shook his head. "No... I was just afraid that I was dreaming that you came back and I wanted to make sure you...well, you know," replied Yugi awkwardly.

Atem smiled and shook his head with an amused look on his face. ''I'm here to stay, Yugi; I told you that last night," said the Pharaoh, yawning again. He went over to the nightstand, picked up the Millennium Puzzle and put it around his neck.

Atem's stomach growled loudly and he flushed. "Yugi, not to put too fine a point on it, but do you have anything to eat? After spending a few months in the afterlife, I'm quite famished."

Yugi laughed. "I suppose we better get some breakfast, then. Come on, Atem," he said, climbing out of his bed and walking out of his room.

Atem followed after him easily, violet eyes taking in his surroundings. "It's been awhile since I've been here...virtually nothing has changed," said Atem with a small smile. Yugi nodded, making sure not to trip down the stairs.

"By the way, how's your grandfather?" asked Atem as they neared the kitchen.

Yugi heard noises coming from the room that told him that his guardian was up. "Well, how about you ask him?" said Yugi, going into the kitchen. "Good morning, Grampa."

"Good morning to you, too, Yugi," said the elderly man. His gray hair peeked up from his blue sleeping cap and his back was turned to the two boys. "How'd you sleep? It snowed last night, so I wondered if you were cold," he said, and Yugi then noticed that he was making himself some coffee, meaning that he had not yet seen Atem.

Yugi looked at his counterpart, barely able to contain his laughter; the taller boy also had an amused look on his face.

"I slept all right, Mr. Mutou," said Atem evenly, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms.

The elderly man continued what he was doing. "That's good," he said, taking a sip from the steaming mug.

A few moments later, he stopped and choked on the hot liquid, turning to face Atem with wide gray eyes.

"Atem! What—how…?" spluttered Mr. Mutou, looking to Yugi in bewilderment for an explanation.

The smaller boy was doubled over with laughter. "He's back, Grampa! He came back last night!" said Yugi with a wide smile, unable to restrain his laughter. "You should see the look on your face!"

Mr. Mutou looked bewildered for a moment longer before breaking into a grin himself. "Well...there's one way to get an old man to wake up in the morning," he said ruefully. "Welcome back, Pharaoh."

"Please...just call me Atem, sir," replied Atem with a small smile.

"Oh posh. Call _me_ Solomon—'sir' makes me feel old."

Atem nodded with amusement, a short laugh escaping his throat. "Very well, Solomon," he said, testing the name gingerly. "I'll remember that."

His gaze flickered to the refrigerator with a hungry light in his eyes. "Can I have something to eat?" requested Atem. Yugi hit his forehead with his open hand.

"I almost forgot that you were hungry! Here, why don't I make us some scrambled eggs?" said Yugi, crossing the room to the fridge and pulling out the egg carton.

"That would be nice," said Atem gratefully, and he sat down at the table to await his breakfast.

* * *

Meanwhile in a different household, another boy was also waking up.

Ryou sat up in his bed slowly, unable to recall at first the events from the night before. _How did I get here? And who changed me into my nightclothes? _he thought, noticing that he was wearing a pair of his favorite pajamas. He held a hand to his throbbing head, struggling to remember.

He'd been on his way home...the seniors had ganged up on him...then what?

The reverberating crash from the kitchen brought him to attention with a jolt. "What on earth!" he said aloud, wondering if someone had broken into his home.

A loud Egyptian curse filled the house and Ryou suddenly remembered. _That's right...Bakura saved me last night._

He noted that his injuries had been tended to; Bakura was the only other person living in the house, so Ryou knew that the administered first aid had been from the tomb robber.

"Bakura? Are you all right in there?" called Ryou. His answer was another Egyptian curse.

Sighing, Ryou managed to get himself out of bed and went to investigate the source of the commotion. His bare feet padded softly on the carpeted stairwell and he shivered as the chilly air nipped at them. He rounded the corner to the kitchen and stood at the doorway in disbelief.

The room looked as if a floury tornado had hit it. Pots and pans were littered carelessly on the floor, along with various foods (was that a bottle of _ketchup_ on the counter?) and appliances. Everything was in complete disarray—what on earth happened in here? A movement in the corner of his vision made Ryou look over to the kitchen sink.

Bakura's back was turned to him and he was muttering a steady stream of Egyptian curses as he fiddled with the stovetop. His silvery hair had eggshells distributed evenly through it as well as what suspiciously looked like maple syrup; the tomb robber's entire body was covered in flour.

As Ryou watched Bakura bent down and rummaged in the cupboard underneath the countertop, searching for some unknown item. "Bakura?"

The other teen jumped and his head crashed into the top of the cabinet. He let out yet another Egyptian curse and whirled to face Ryou. The effect of the death glare his Yami was giving him was somewhat negated by the fact that his face had smudges of flour on it; some of it was on the tip of his nose. The Millennium Ring flashed on his chest in response to his mood. "You foolish mortal, why'd you sneak up on me like that?" he snarled, holding his head.

"Good morning, Bakura," replied Ryou, already used to his Yami's bursts of temper. He knew that Bakura had not changed much from when Ryou knew him, so there was no reason to expect a sudden loss of anger from his other half. "What are you doing?"

"Making my breakfast, obviously," said Bakura irritably, walking over to the small table and digging into a plate of pancakes with an unrivaled ferocity. Ryou watched him for a moment, wondering if maybe Bakura had made his Hikari any breakfast.

The answer to that question was an abrupt, "You can make your own food."

Of course. Bakura had not changed a bit, reflected Ryou ruefully as he wandered to the kitchen and began cleaning off the counters. "Are you here to stay?" he asked as he wiped down the countertop with a wet cloth.

"Yes, I'm mortal, dolt. I'm here to stay, so don't try to seal me into the Ring or I'll send your soul to the shadows," Bakura replied threateningly, holding up the aforementioned Item in a menacing manner.

Ryou suddenly recalled something that Bakura had said the previous night and said worriedly, "Did you release those seniors yet?"

Bakura halted in mid-bite to regard his Hikari in disbelief. "...Only you would ask me something so moronic," he said, shaking his head in irritation. "I could hardly care less about them. Personally, they deserve their stay in the Shadow Realm."

"Please release them now, Bakura. I think that they learned their lesson," Ryou said with a plea in his voice.

With a sigh, the Yami lifted the Ring and reluctantly did what Ryou asked; he decided to release them just over the frozen river that ran nearby the school, though he refrained from telling Ryou that little tidbit. "I personally think you are the most idiotic dolt in the world and you are foolish to show mercy to your enemies," he grumbled as the light faded from the room.

Ryou inwardly sighed. Knowing Bakura, if his Hikari tried to bring up the tomb robber's words from the night before he'd receive either a blunt denial or he'd be threatened to shut up or lose his soul. Nonetheless, Ryou decided to try to see if Bakura had meant what he had said.

"Bakura...are you glad to see that I'm all right?" he asked hesitantly, wondering if Bakura had changed. He hoped so—the last thing he needed was a psychotic tomb robber on his hands.

The other teen abruptly stopped eating and looked at Ryou. "...If it means that you can cook for me, then yes."

"Last night, I think you said something to me, but I wasn't sure..." Ryou trailed off, looking back at his counterpart.

"You were dreaming, dunderhead. You obviously must have been hallucinating, because you know as well as I do that I'd never say anything as ridiculous as caring about you," replied Bakura bluntly after a split-second hesitation, crossing his arms and silently daring him to question his story.

Ryou debated on pointing out the fact that he hadn't told Bakura just what it was he had thought was said, but he decided against it. Instead, he merely said, "Whatever your motives, I'm glad you saved me. Thank you."

Bakura grunted noncommittally. "Make your breakfast, fool."

* * *

The second person that saw Atem (Yugi seeing him first did not count) was Jounouchi.

The blonde had forgotten his backpack at the game shop and was thanking God that school had let out the day before. Jounouchi could see the shorter boy carrying a box to the back of the shop through the window.

"Hey, Yug!" he said cheerily, entering the shop. He stopped abruptly, frowning. Although Yugi's back was turned to him he could tell that his short friend was decidedly taller than yesterday. "Did the fruit punch give you a growth spurt, Yugi?" he asked in a teasing tone, although his brow furrowed perplexedly.

"No, I'm afraid not," replied a voice off to his right; Jounouchi whirled around and stared in disbelief at another Yugi. "What the—! How're you in two places at once?" asked Jounouchi in alarm, confusion blossoming in his mind as he spoke. There were two Yugis; one of which was his friend, but the other...the other…

Was he who Jounouchi thought he was?

"Hello, Jounouchi."

At his name the teen spun around to face Atem. For a few moments he stared blankly at the former Pharaoh.

"I'm glad to see you, old friend," continued Atem smoothly, giving Jounouchi a confident smile.

"Y-Y-YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" shouted Jounouchi at last, leaping backwards and pointing at Atem with an alarmed expression on his face. "ZOMBIE PHARAOH, ZOMBIE PHARAOH!"

Both Atem and Yugi flinched at the explosive noise. "Jounouchi, I can assure you he is not a zombie!" Yugi said hastily.

But the blonde surprised both boys by promptly bounding forward and hugging Atem, tousling his spiked hair. "You're back! When didja get back? Aw man, it's great to see you! Where've you been—oh yeah, you were in the afterlife, never mind—what was it like, how long have you been here, how'd you get back—!"

"I'm glad to see you as well, Jounouchi," replied Atem with a laugh. "But I think you need to let me breathe, first," he said in a strained voice; his face had been turning a steady shade of red.

"Oops," said Jounouchi sheepishly, releasing the Pharaoh.

Atem massaged his throat and said again, "I'm glad to see you, Jounouchi."

"He got back last night," piped up Yugi helpfully. "I didn't quite believe it at first, either."

"Who else knows that Atem's here?" asked Jounouchi.

"Grampa. I was getting ready to call you guys and tell you to get over here, but it looks like you did before I got the chance," said Yugi, putting a hand on the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face.

Jounouchi gave his friend a mock-serious glare and said, "I can't believe you would hold out on us like that."

"Sorry, Jounouchi."

* * *

"Atem's not the only one who's here. Bakura's back," Yugi announced grimly, hanging up the phone and turning to his friends. The short teen had decided to call his friends and tell them to come to the shop to see Atem, Ryou being the first one.

Jounouchi's eyes widened in alarm, but Atem nodded slowly. "I thought so."

"But why? Why is 'Kura back too?" asked Jounouchi in bewilderment. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"He's here because whoever sent me back must've allowed him to return as well. The question is: who _did_ send us back and why was it done?" said Atem quietly, his eyes narrowed.

The truth was, he had no clue how he'd been able to come back to the present; there was obviously some cause behind it, but whatever it was had been hidden from him. All he knew was that what a vaguely familiar voice had told him as he fell through the dark portal in Yugi's dream.

_The world is once again in need of your assistance, Great Pharaoh. Someone else from your time is also returning, and both of you may have some difficulty in working together. However, it is of the greatest urgency that both of you put aside your differences if the world is to be saved._

Mr. Mutou's cry of alarm brought him from the front of the shop brought him back to the present and he stopped in mid-dial, his eyes widening fearfully. "Grampa?" he called anxiously; Jounouchi and Atem rose from the couch tensely.

"Yugi, come quick!" called his grandfather urgently, a fearful note in his voice.

Yugi hung up the phone and moved swiftly to the entryway to the front of the shop where Mr. Mutou was. "Grampa! What is it?" he began, but he stopped abruptly as his eyes took in what his grandfather was seeing.

A tall, muscular, spiky-haired blonde filled the doorway, his long, dark trenchcoat tattered and torn. His entire appearance looked tattered and bloody. In his arms was a limp form with a shock of magenta hair, unmoving and silent. The newcomer's ice blue eyes sought for Yugi's.

"Help..." he said simply, his knees buckling as he sank to the ground in exhaustion. He somehow managed to stay on his knees, but it was obvious that he was fighting not to pass out.

"RAPHAEL!"

Yugi rushed forward, his friends and his grandpa right behind him. They gathered beside him, watching him concernedly. Raphael had managed to regain his feet even as they came around the counter. He looked down at the unconscious figure that he was carrying before looking up to Jounouchi. "Help him. I'll manage just fine, but tend to him first," he said faintly.

"I'll get him," said Jounouchi, holding his arms out to take the unmoving young man from Raphael. It took a few seconds to adjust to the weight, since the other man was taller than the blonde teenager, but Jounouchi adjusted quickly and left the room to put the limp figure in the spare bedroom upstairs.

"Yugi, call our family doctor," ordered the elderly man once Jounouchi had vanished from view. "Atem, help our guest. I'll get the first aid kit."

Atem moved to Raphael's side, but the man declined any assistance and slowly followed after him, limping noticeably. The older blonde was violently swaying as he walked and seemed ready to collapse in exhaustion; blood stained the shirt he was wearing, but it was especially noticeable on one of his shoulders. Shadows were plainly visible under his eyes and a shallow cut ran down one side of his face.

"Sorry to drop in like this," Raphael managed to rasp out weakly. "I would have called in advance, but given the circumstances…"

"It's quite all right. Focus on walking right now," replied Atem, making sure that Raphael stayed conscious. The older biker's eyes were glazed and were drifting in and out of focus—he hoped that Raphael would be able to make it to the living room.

It was a useless hope.

Without warning, Raphael's eyes slid shut and he slumped forward, unconscious. Atem caught him before he fell to the floor with an alarmed cry. "Yugi, Jounouchi, _help_!" he shouted, struggling to keep the much taller—and much heavier—man up.

The two other boys heard Atem's cries and rushed back to render their assistance to the now unconscious man. With an effort, they managed to get Raphael into the family room and onto the sofa.

"What on earth happened to him?" asked Jounouchi in disbelief, visibly shaken at the limp figure on the couch; Raphael was such a strong and muscled individual, and he had never looked this badly hurt before. Not one of them had seen Raphael or the other former DOOM warriors beforehand, so to see him turn up so abruptly—and so badly wounded—had them worried.

"Who could do this to him?" continued Jounouchi, pressing a handkerchief on the wound in Raphael's shoulder. The older man flinched at the pressure but otherwise lay still.

"I have a feeling that this coincides with my comeback," said Atem quietly, his eyes narrowed.

* * *

After breakfast, Ryou showered and changed into a long-sleeved light blue turtleneck and jeans, heading downstairs to check on his Yami.

"Bakura, we should head over to the game shop and see Atem," he said brightly, stepping into the living room where his Yami was reclining on the couch.

The tomb robber was watching TV, though Ryou did not recognize what show it was (if he had to wager a guess, it was most likely a horror movie). Bakura looked over at Ryou in response to his statement with an incredulous look on his face.

"Why in the name of Ra would I want to do that?" he growled. "I refuse to go see that smug—," and here he inserted another choice Egyptian curse "—Pharaoh."

"But Bakura, technically you're no longer enemies! And if you're here to stay you're going to have to learn how to get along with him eventually."

"Well, then, _you_ go. I, in the meantime, am staying here," retorted Bakura angrily, turning to watch the television.

Ryou was torn; he knew better than to leave Bakura alone in the house, but he had no clue how to persuade him. Once Bakura made up his mind, he usually stuck to it. Suddenly, Ryou remembered something about his Yami that made him grin.

"Oh, that's all right, I'll go by myself. No need to go on my account. I think that I'll get myself some _pocky_ while I'm out," he said loudly, walking into the hall while pulling on his tan winter coat and wrapping his scarf securely around his neck.

The TV suddenly was silent.

Bakura walked slowly out of the family room, a calculating look in his brown eyes. "Did you say...pocky?" he asked slowly and carefully, but his eyes revealed his true thoughts—which were full of fanatical desire.

Ryou was careful to keep his eyes averted and his smile hidden; though Bakura seemed to dislike most sweet foods, he had a certain fondness for pocky and he would do anything—even visit his mortal enemy—for it.

"Yes, I did. I was going to get some for you, but since you don't want to come I guess I won't stop at the store after all."

"...Wait here, fool," said Bakura curtly, vanishing from view.

Thirty seconds later, Bakura reappeared in front of Ryou, fully dressed. He was wearing one of Ryou's striped shirts beneath a black duster and a pair of jeans (honestly, Ryou never figured out just where Bakura had gotten the long black coat, but some things were better left unspoken). "Let's go," he said, moving swiftly out the door. "You buy me pocky; I'll go see the Pharaoh."

Ryou smiled at the success of his plan and followed after Bakura.

* * *

"Well, both of them will need rest, this one in particular," said Dr. Sohma, gesturing to the pale red-head lying silently in the guest room bed. "He's suffering from a bad concussion, several badly bruised ribs, and mild starvation. Your other friend—Raphael?—has a deep laceration in his shoulder, rendering that arm mostly useless for now. He's also exhausted, has minor head trauma and also is mildly starved. However, neither one requires hospital attention, though I recommend you keep an eye on both of them."

"Thank you, Dr. Sohma," said Yugi gratefully, following the young doctor out of the room.

The ebony haired doctor looked over at Yugi with a smile, his golden eyes regarding him kindly. "You're very welcome. I was a little worried—I thought it was your grandfather that was hurt."

They passed Jounouchi in the hall and Yugi flashed him a silent thumbs up. The other boy grinned in relief and went to tell Atem the news.

"I'll see you later," Dr. Sohma said cheerily as he exited the shop—passing by Honda, Anzu, and Otogi. All three stared blankly at the passing young man before rushing worriedly into the shop.

"Is Mr. Mutou all right?" Anzu asked anxiously when she saw Yugi, her cerulean eyes shining with worry.

"Yes, he's fine…but I wish I could say the same for Raphael and Alister," said Yugi grimly.

"Raphael's here?" exclaimed Honda, hazel eyes wide. "Why?"

"Oh they are, huh?" came a familiar voice, and everyone turned to face Seto Kaiba.

The brunette was wearing his trademark white duster and black clothing, his normal look of cool indifference securely in place. Behind him was Mokuba and Noa, both boys clad in winter garments; Mokuba wore a blue-striped shirt and a yellow parka with jeans while Noa had a long-sleeved white button up version and a royal purple scarf.

"And what brings you here, rich boy?" said Jounouchi in annoyance, coming out of the back of the shop with a scowl in place.

"Mokuba wanted to see you guys," explained Noa wryly. "And actually, I wanted to see you all, too; I was bored. Seto—eh, not so much."

"Oh, almost forgot." Jounouchi turned to the tri-colored haired teen. "Yugi, Atem says that Raphael was awake for a bit; he says that—"

"_Who?_" yelped everyone in unison—except for Seto, who merely narrowed his eyes, and Noa, who had a baffled expression on his face.

Yugi flushed. In all the excitement of Raphael's sudden appearance, he had forgotten to finish calling his friends and spreading the news. "Sorry, guys. I forgot to tell you—!"

"Yugi?" called Atem, suddenly appearing in the door that led to the shop with a troubled look on his face.

Anzu gave a small scream, and Mokuba's eyes widened; Otogi's and Honda's own eyes were about to fall out of their head. Even Seto was caught off guard by the former Pharaoh's sudden appearance, though whatever emotion was on his face was quickly extinguished. Atem himself was startled by Anzu's scream and looked at his friends with a mixture of alarm and recognition.

"Hello," he said quietly to them at last. "I had hoped to meet you under different circumstances, but in either event it is good to see you."

A few moments passed in silence, and then Anzu took a step forward with a nameless expression. She looked at the Pharaoh for only a few seconds before she gave him a quick but brief hug. Honda took his cue from her and stepped forward, indecisive as to what he should do; in the end, he contented himself with ruffling Atem's hair.

"Oh gag me," said Seto in annoyance, startling everyone there. "Save your dorky reunion for later and just tell me what Raphael wanted to tell Yugi."

The Pharaoh shook his head as he looked over at his rival. "You haven't changed at all, have you?" he said in a slightly amused tone. His face, however, remained serious. "Raphael was awake long enough to tell me two things: one, Valon—their other companion—is missing and has been for about a week before they themselves were abducted. Raphael is almost certain that he was taken against his will."

Jounouchi stared, alarm flickering in his eyes. "What, seriously?" he said, startled. "Is there any kind of clue as to where he's been taken?"

Atem shook his head and the blonde teenager growled under his breath, clenching his fist angrily.

The Pharaoh watched Jounouchi sadly for a moment before he looked back to the small group, his eyes narrowing grimly. "That's not all. There was a reason that all three were taken." He looked at each person in turn, finally locking eyes with Yugi.

"Someone is trying to resurrect the Seal of Orichalcos."


	3. Revival of the Seal

_Thanks for all your reviews so far, guys! Here's chapter three, up for your reading pleasure!_

_EDIT: As of 3/7/2011, this and the previous two chapters have all undergone major revamping. Like, we're talking MAJOR revampage. And there's more that's to come, though I have no time right now to really get on it - this story is WAY overdue for some reconstruction D:_

* * *

_...Where am I? Am I dead? _

_Wait, that's a stupid question. If I was dead I wouldn't hurt this much, would I? _

_My question is how I got hurt. I know there's some reason for why I'm injured but I also don't know how I got this way…I can vaguely remember flying blood and shadows…questions about something…the Orichalcos…wait._

_Raphael and Valon…where are they? I have to get up and find them…I don't know where I am, but I have to find them…as far as I know, they're still in danger._

Gray eyes opened slowly and painstakingly, squinting against the light that assaulted them. Gradually his surroundings came into focus and they came under close scrutiny, although since his head hurt too much to move he could only take in what he could immediately see. The owner of the slate-colored eyes looked around blearily, realizing that he was not in the dingy warehouse where he had been previously imprisoned but in what appeared to be a bedroom; it was not a familiar one, since he recognized nothing here.

Registering that fact brought a dim memory to the surface of his mind…of being carried through the snow and out of the warehouse…he remembered a familiar silhouette when he focused on the memory. Raphael had been the one carrying him…but where was he? Was he even here?

"Raphael?" he called out weakly; he winced at the harsh and rasping tone of his voice.

Alister sat up abruptly when he got no answer and then groaned as a sharp pain seared through his ribs. He ignored it, instead looking around the room for any sign of either of his friends. He slumped back down when his searching gaze yielded no results; either Raphael was not in this location or he was elsewhere, but for now he would have to trust that he was all right.

As he sat up he began remembering more and more about what had happened and his eyes narrowed grimly at what he was recalling.

It had started a week ago, when Valon rode out on his motorcycle one evening to get groceries and never came back. At first they had thought he had been goofing around, but when the following morning had come with no sign of their teenage friend they had instantly gone on the alert; when the two of them had followed Valon's supposed route to the grocery store it was to discover the boy's motorcycle lying in a ditch on the side of the road, and that had immediately raised the alarm.

They had then spent the week combing the city and the surrounding area for the boy, leaving a description with the police in hopes that it would more manpower would yield some answers. None of their efforts had gained any results—it was as if the boy had completely vanished into thin air.

They had returned to their home one night after a futile search only to be assaulted by hired thugs when they had walked through the front door; who knew how long ago that had been, since he had lost track of time while he had been held prisoner. He and Raphael had fought back for as long as they could, but in the end their struggles were futile and they were knocked unconscious.

When he had woken up after this encounter...Alister remembered the following events with narrowed eyes.

_"Come on, talk already! What is the secret to the Orichalcos? We know that you know how to activate it—you and your friends all do!" snarled a masked assailant angrily, throwing Alister viciously against the wall. _

_The young man groaned and slumped to the floor, nonetheless shooting a malevolent glare at his captors as an act of defiance. No way were these clowns beating the information out of him—no way, no how._

_He closed his eyes then and let his head hit the floor, trying to feign unconsciousness in an attempt to fool his captors; if he could get away from them maybe he could find and help his friends. If he was here, he was certain that Raphael and Valon were also nearby. Alister, therefore, knew that he needed to escape somehow._

_He felt someone grab him by the front of the gray sweatshirt he had been wearing and haul him to his feet. Clearly this attempt had failed, he reflected as he opened his eyes to glower at the man holding him up. "Talk!" yelled the thug furiously._

_Alister growled weakly."Never."_

_The first man raised his fist threateningly. "You—!"_

_"That's enough," said a cool voice from the shadows; Alister noticed that his assailant stiffened but said nothing further. Realizing that the speaker was the man in charge of this, he directed his attention to that place in the shadows where the voice had come from_

_"Our friend here won't say anything, and neither will his other companion; it's a fruitless endeavor. But the young Australian, now...when he first arrived he wouldn't even give us the time of day. However, he's a lot closer to yielding the information than they are," said a cloaked figure smoothly, stepping from the shadows._

_Alister bristled, a warning look entering his eyes. "For your sake, they had both better be alive," he said coldly, rising unsteadily to his feet and fixing his captor with a steely gaze._

_"Funny. That's exactly what your friend said earlier," said the masked figure thoughtfully, and Alister bristled. "Don't fret. He's alive, though he's feeling—shall we say—under the weather at the moment."_

_Alister's eyes narrowed, refusing to show the relief that threatened to manifest in his eyes. At least Raphael was alive—that was the important thing. "I speak with the voice of experience when I say that you're making a huge mistake. The Seal of Orichalcos is a double-edged sword...one that shouldn't be unsheathed," Alister said then. "You can't use it like a child with his new toy. I won't help you use it, not even if you kill me."_

_The cloaked man eyed him silently from under his hood; his eyes glimmered through the skull shaped mask. "...Thank you for your 'advice', Alister, but I think that I can handle myself," said the man coolly at last. _

_Alister started at the mention of his name but let it go; the man had to have known their names to capture them for information about the Seal. It made him wonder just how long this man had been watching them and why he had chosen now to try and capture them—why had he started with Valon?_

_The cloaked man looked over Alister's shoulder and nodded at something behind him. Seconds later something slammed into the back of his head before Alister could react and he blacked out._

_The redhead woke up an indeterminable amount of time later to the sound of Raphael's voice cutting through the hazy pain in his mind. He managed opened his eyes to find Raphael in front of him, looking worse for the wear and his eyes full of incredulous horror. _

_Raphael's worn out face filled with relief at the sight of Alister's return to consciousness. "Are you all right?" he asked, stepping back slightly. The blonde looked frazzled and just in as much pain as Alister did_

_Alister's chest felt oddly tight and heavy, not to mention that his whole body hurt and he could taste blood in his mouth, but all he could manage was a feeble, "Now what do you think?" before his eyes slipped closed again._

_Alister heard footsteps approach him once again and felt strong hands prying apart the manacles; they opened with a click, unable to hold against Raphael's grim determination. Alister tried to stay on his feet, but it was not enough and he was falling forward unwillingly. Strong arms enfolded him before he hit the floor. _

_"Where's Valon?" he rasped weakly, feeling himself unwillingly slipping into oblivion. _

_He was dimly aware of Raphael's brusque but obviously worried reply: "He's not here; I think they took him with them." _

_"Figures that they wouldn't make this easier on us," he muttered before his eyes closed and he fell into the darkness._

Now Alister looked around once again, noting the surroundings carefully. He needed to get up and find Raphael. Perhaps the blonde had managed to find Valon while he had been unconscious, or maybe Raphael was in some sort of danger; he had no idea who was living here or if they were friendly.

His body protested when he tried to move off the bed, but Alister again ignored it and struggled to get himself off the bed; although he would never verbally admit it, he was concerned for his friends (especially for Valon, who was still missing).

In the end, however, he was forced to surrender to his body's weak state and he lay back against the pillows in resignation.

In a few minutes he had unwillingly slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"So, let me get this right...the Seal of Origami—"

"Orichalcos, Bakura."

"Orichalcos, Origami, close enough. Some idiot is trying to use it for their own selfish gain and we have three stiffs who know how to work it—one of which the idiot still has, correct?"

Ryou and his Yami had shown up a few minutes after the rest of Yugi's friends had, just immediately after Atem's announcement. Seeing how as they did not exactly know what the Orichalcos was—let alone who Raphael and Alister was—there was obviously some explaining that needed to be done.

Yugi had just gotten done summarizing what had occurred before their arrival and sat in another chair that he'd gotten from the kitchen, seeing how as Raphael was still unconscious on the sofa, and sat back against it with a frown. "They aren't dead, Bakura," he said in response to Bakura's comment about the 'stiffs'.

The Yami shrugged, stuck the tip of a pocky stick into his mouth and said flatly, "Whatever."

"So...why does anyone want to resurrect the Orichalcos?" asked Jounouchi.

"Are you really that stupid, Jou? Have you forgotten what happened the last time? The Seal has a lot of power behind it, and it could easily be used to take over the world," said Honda incredulously, giving his friend a disbelieving stare.

The other teen flushed indignantly, but his response was cut off with Seto's curt, "Only morons believe in that kind of nonsense."

"This coming from the guy who helped us defeat it last time?" asked Jounouchi in a skeptical tone.

"It was all bogus—a clever use of holograms, knock-out drugs, and smokescreens."

"Explain the Leviathan, smart one."

"...Drug-induced hallucination."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, man."

"Knock it off, you two," said Anzu in an exasperated tone, finally speaking up for the first time in ten minutes. "Can't you see Atem's trying to think?"

The Pharaoh jumped when he heard his name and looked up. Atem had remained silent for the most part, mainly because he was lost in his own thoughts about what the Seal's untimely return meant, and the abrupt return to the conversation had startled him.

He frowned as he remembered the strange words again. The great evil that the strange man had been talking about...he must've been talking about the Orichalcos. But why did he need Bakura's help? And was Dartz responsible for the sudden rise of the Seal?

Come to think of it…he hadn't ever found out what had truly happened to the Atlantean after defeating him…

As if in response to his thoughts, Honda asked aloud with a small frown, "D'you think that Dartz is behind this?"

Atem shook his head, deciding to voice what he had been thinking about. "If that were the case, why would he torture his former soldiers for information on what he already knows?"

"From what it sounds like, these three betrayed him. Perhaps this was meant to be more of a punishment…" said Ryou quietly, looking toward the family room where Raphael was still laying.

"As logical sounding as that may be, Hikari, it doesn't seem like it. If you'd been paying attention, Pharaoh said that Zug-Zug in there—"(and here he jerked a thumb towards the living room) "claimed that someone is trying to bring _back_ the Orichalcos."

"So you actually agree with Atem for once, 'Kura?" asked Jounouchi curiously.

Bakura growled warningly in response at the nickname.

"I'm beginning to wonder if maybe my return—and Bakura's—was allowed in order to defeat the Seal. I think we're supposed to defeat it," mused Atem aloud, looking over to the silver haired thief.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Why the deuce are you dragging _me_ into it?" asked Bakura in annoyance, his eyes flashing; the Millennium Ring gleamed for a brief moment in response to its master's emotions. "I can't even pronounce the name right and you think that I am going to help you? You may have been a Pharaoh in my time but you aren't now, and I won't have any of it!"

Atem ignored the comment about his former status and asked in a serious tone, "When you came back, did you hear anyone say anything to you? Something about the world requiring your assistance?"

The sudden lack of color in the tomb robber's face gave Atem the answer.

"Atem...what are you talking about?" asked Yugi confusedly.

Seto growled before Atem could respond and said, "I've had enough of this. Mokuba, Noa, call me when you're done here. I'm going back to the office."

"Kaiba, what gives?" yelped Otogi. Honda and Anzu also looked alarmed, as did Yugi, Mokuba, Noa, and Ryou; Atem watched him with a rather even look while Bakura merely looked bored.

"I draw the line at disembodied voices that tell imaginary people that they're supposed to save the world from a figment of their overactive imaginations. And I have better things to do with my time," Seto said curtly, exiting the room swiftly; a few moments later they heard the front door slam.

"What's his problem, anyway?" said Jounouchi angrily, making a face in the direction that Seto had left.

"He probably doesn't want to get involved in this kind of stuff again," said Mokuba sheepishly. "I should go." And with that, Mokuba also left the room.

Noa sighed. "Might as well go with them; seeing how as I lack a driver's license, Seto's the only way I can go home. See you guys later," he said with a wave, vanishing into the front of the shop

"…Somehow, I'm not as surprised as I probably should be," said Anzu at length. The others nodded.

* * *

"Seto, are you all right?" asked Mokuba nervously, his blue-gray eyes full of anxiety.

His elder brother had remained silent for the majority of the return trip to the Kaiba Corporation building, cobalt eyes unreadable. He had kept his arms crossed the entire time as well, his face as cold and impassive as stone.

Noa was also watching his brother from across the limo with something of concern on his face, but he had said nothing; whatever was going on in Seto's head would remain there until he divulged his secrets. Noa had learned that a long time ago.

"...I'm fine, Mokuba," said Seto at last in a clipped tone, forcing a smile.

In actuality, Seto was far from fine. Firstly, Yugi's multiple personality disorder had manifested itself—this time in a tangible, physical body, proving that Yugi had been right about the Spirit of the Puzzle all this time. He could no longer deny that there was magic involved.

Secondly, the Seal of Orichalcos...he knew perfectly well that what he had said back at the shop was a lie; he had long ago concluded that what had happened was _not_ a magic trick. It had genuinely happened. With both of his brothers to think about, Seto felt that to get involved would endanger them; he knew what it felt like to lose a soul—and he knew that Mokuba was familiar with that feeling as well—and he was not about to let it happen again.

"You weren't scared back there, were you?" asked Noa in a teasing tone. "'Cause it looked to me like you were executing a tactical retreat."

Seto shook his head and said, "I just don't want to get involved with that nonsense again, Noa."

"Aww…and I thought you didn't care," replied Noa after a moment, grinning widely up at his stepbrother.

Although Noa could be considered technically older than Seto, he was shorter; the news crews had automatically assumed Noa was younger than twenty. Neither one of the three brothers bothered to tell the truth behind Noa's true age—mainly because Noa himself was unsure of it.

Something suddenly collided with the side of the car, jolting its occupants. Noa yelped and grabbed onto the seat divider. "The heck?" he said, alarmed.

Another impact caused the car to completely swerve, and both of the older Kaibas exchanged looks. Noa locked eyes with Seto and he sent a silent message with his eyes: _don't worry about me. Protect Mokuba._

Before Seto could properly protest the car jerked again, but this time it began spinning wildly out of control.

"SETO!" Mokuba screamed in fear.

Seto had no time to grab both of his younger brothers, but he reached for Mokuba immediately and pulled the child into a protective embrace. He braced himself as the car rolled over and over, the sound of breaking glass and screeching metal filling his hearing. The glass shards flew around Seto, some of them cutting his skin; he instinctively drew Mokuba closer to his body in a desperate attempt to shield him from the dangerous debris.

He heard Noa cry out in pain once, briefly, before his head hit the back of the seat violently and his vision faded to black.

* * *

Raphael limped weakly into the guest room with an unreadable look in his eyes.

He had woken up in Yugi's living room to find seven pairs of eyes fixed on him with various looks of relief and concern. At first, he experienced a bit of disorientation and had forgotten where he had wound up; it hadn't helped that he had seen two Yugi's, one of which turned out to somehow be the Nameless Pharaoh.

But once he had determined that he and Alister both were safe, he had asked the location of the young redhead and had managed to get himself to the guest room without any assistance, though he honestly had thought at one point that he was going to tumble down the stairs.

Now he surveyed his friend, showing the worry he felt that he refused to show to Yugi, the Nameless Pharaoh, and his friends.

The younger man was still unconscious but breathing evenly, so Raphael knew that Alister was not badly off; he could imagine Alister's exasperated voice telling him that he was fine. Bandages criss-crossed his torso and were wrapped around his head underneath his bangs. His skin was whiter than the sheets and he was terribly thin, but that was due to the three days spent in captivity.

If Alister looked like this…what did that mean for Valon? The boy had been missing for nearly a week; he was bound to be more injured than his older friends, if he was not dead. Raphael grimaced at the morbid thought and shoved it angrily out of his mind—he did not need those kind of thoughts at the moment.

"The doctor said that Alister would recover as long as he rested," said Yugi quietly from behind him, and Raphael turned to face the tri-colored haired teen with surprise; he had not heard the other boy come in. The much smaller boy's eyes were full of sincere concern as he regarded the older man.

"You didn't have to get a doctor for us," Raphael replied gruffly, gesturing towards both Alister's sleeping form and himself. "Especially since we haven't always been on the best of terms."

Yugi smiled kindly. "You guys needed help, and I have never been one to turn away those who need assistance."

Raphael grunted noncommittally, but inside he was immensely grateful. He had foreseen a meeting with Yugi and his friends occurring in the near future since he and his friends had chosen to live in Domino, but not so soon and certainly not under these conditions.

As he had carried Alister through the snow shortly after his escape from the warehouse, he had feared that Yugi and his friends would refuse to help them; all of them had been, at one point, mortal enemies, and the former DOOM warriors had treated them in the past with less than desirable behavior.

He was glad that he had been proven otherwise.

The door opened again and Raphael saw the Pharaoh enter the room. With him were two silver haired boys that Raphael had never seen before, one with a cross expression on his face. Briefly, he wondered if the two of them were twins—they certainly bore a striking resemblance to each other.

The other Yugi closed the door quietly behind him and said in an equally quiet tone, "Are you all right?"

"…As all right as can be expected," replied Raphael carefully, his shoulder inadvertently throbbing as he spoke.

"I figured that the four of us would listen to your story first because the others would wear you out with their questions," continued Atem, his eyes watching Raphael intelligently. "You mentioned something about the Orichalcos before you passed out. Something about it coming back...?"

The silver haired boy on the left angrily cursed in what sounded like Egyptian and looked as if he wanted to be anywhere other than here.

"Bakura, please," said the other one in a pleading tone. The first one muttered incoherently but otherwise said nothing further.

"Pharaoh—" said Raphael, but he was cut off by the one he was addressing.

"My name is Atem, Raphael," said the shorter young man calmly, though his amethyst eyes flashed as he said it. "I don't go by the name 'Pharaoh' anymore."

Raphael nodded, deciding not to dwell on it further, and said bluntly, "Someone is trying to bring the Orichalcos back."

"As you said. But did anyone ever say why? And did you see who was holding you and your friends prisoner?" asked Atem.

Raphael frowned and tried to remember if he had. The truth was that the three days he had been held captive—he had figured out how long he'd been gone thanks to Yugi—had all blurred together in a nightmarish mixture of pain and probing questions. He could only remember the questions.

"Sorry, but he always remained in the shadows. I never saw him...but I heard him well enough. He said that he needed the Orichalcos to, 'bring power back to the powerless', but he never said more than that. He also still has Valon," said Raphael angrily, clenching his fist in frustration.

"Oh, goody," said the one on the right—Bakura?—sardonically. "We have virtually nothing to go on. Meanwhile we have clues that don't make sense and the fact that me and the stupid Pharaoh here need to save the world from something I've never heard of. Yay."

"Bakura," growled Atem warningly, confirming the identity of the other teenager.

Raphael looked over at him, his frown deepening. "I suppose you know something about this that my friends and I don't," he said slowly, waiting for an explanation.

Bakura nodded. "Yes. The idiot Pharaoh here believes that we were called back from the afterlife to defeat this Seal of Onigiri—"

"_Orichalcos,_" corrected four voices automatically.

Raphael wondered vaguely what Bakura had meant by "afterlife" but decided against asking, sensing that it was a confusing matter to explain. Perhaps it had had to do with that phone call he had received from Pegasus…

The other silver haired boy spoke up timidly. "Bakura, please try to say the name right."

"It has a lot of names that sound like it, Hikari," replied Bakura crossly, folding his arms across his chest with an annoyed scowl on his face.

Atem opened his mouth to say something further, but whatever he said was lost as Anzu's horrified scream cut him off. All five of them stiffened.

"Something's wrong!" cried Yugi, moving quickly out of the room with Atem close behind him. The other three also followed them.

"What in the name of Ra has happened _now?_" muttered Bakura under his breath irritably as he went down the stairs.

They got to the living room to find Otogi, Honda, Jounouchi, and Anzu watching the TV with horrified expressions on their faces. "What's going on?" asked Yugi in confusion.

"Yugi, Kaiba's hurt!" Anzu wailed, her blue eyes full of horror and tears; she pointed at the TV screen in emphasis. Yugi himself went pale and went to turn up the volume on the television set. Everyone—even Bakura—listened in stunned silence to the news reporter as she gave out her report.

"—there was a horrific accident today on the highway involving at least sixteen cars, including multi-millionaire Seto Kaiba's limousine. All three of the Kaibas conditions are unknown, but there were some fatalities. Police have refused to release any information on the young CEO or his brothers. Eyewitnesses say that they saw a strange monster slam what seems to be an axe into the side of the limousine, causing it to skid out of control and cause the tragedy. Here is an artist's rendering of what eyewitnesses claim they saw."

On the screen was one of the Orichalcos soldier monsters, the green Seal evident on its forehead.

Yugi turned off the TV. "I think...it's safe to say that someone has succeeded in using the Orichalcos," he said softly, eyes wide in horror.


	4. Unwelcome Guests

Raphael narrowed his eyes at Yugi's grim announcement; things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. If the Orichalcos was truly back, then that meant one of two things: either Valon had finally cracked and had told his captors what they needed to use the symbol, or they had gotten their information from somewhere else and Valon…

He halted the thought with an angry growl.

"We have to go to the hospital and see if they're okay!" cried Anzu, half-rising from her chair.

Honda and Jounouchi also made to get up from their seats, but Otogi spoke up with a frown. "Guys, hold up. My car can't fit all of us, and what if the security at the hospital won't let us see them? Besides, what about Alister? He's still unconscious."

"No he's not," growled a weak voice flatly. "And you aren't leaving him here, either."

Everyone whirled around in time to see Alister limp into the room, a pained expression on his face. It was quite clear that he was having difficulty moving at the moment, but he seemed to not really care. His gray eyes were flashing dangerously, asking—_daring_—someone to tell him that he had to stay behind. His magenta bangs fell into his eyes; the steely gray orbs landed on Raphael and briefly flickered with relief before fading once more into the defiant, fiery light that emanated from them.

Atem dipped his head in greeting. "Alister, it is your decision. No one will force you to stay here."

Raphael looked over at his friend and allowed himself a small smile. "Nice to see you walking around. I was wondering when you'd wake up."

"You don't look too bad yourself," replied Alister calmly, reassured of both his older friend's welfare and the fact that he was going to be allowed to leave.

He blinked at the fact that there were two Yugis standing in front of him but otherwise remained emotionless as he surveyed the small group gathered in the room. Yugi wondered briefly if Alister should remain behind; although not in life-threatening condition, he was still badly hurt. It might be a wise idea for him to rest—though, judging by his behavior, it did not seem likely he would. He was too similar to Kaiba in personality.

"I'm going," Alister said grimly. "Valon's still missing and someone's trying to bring the Orichalcos back. I hardly think this is a time for a nap."

All of them looked uncomfortably at each other, unsure how to break the news to the redhead. At length, it was Anzu who looked to the former DOOM warrior and said quietly, "The Orichalcos is already back. One of those Orichalcos soldiers just took out Kaiba's limousine."

Alister blanched; the emotionless mask broke and alarm openly showed itself on his face.

Raphael knew that it wasn't entirely because of Kaiba or his brothers (was Noa an adopted brother? He didn't know, but it was the only explanation that presented itself to him) that the redhead had paled. Alister no longer despised the CEO and did seem to care about Mokuba's well being; that much was certain. No, the thoughts running through his mind were the same that Raphael himself had thought moments before about their Australian friend.

_Was Valon even alive at this point?_ Neither knew the answer to that question, but they also recognized the fact that Valon had to still be breathing. The information had to have come from somewhere—although both also knew that Valon would never reveal anything _willingly_ about the Orichalcos...

"Alister?" said Yugi tentatively, watching the young man with sympathy in his violet eyes.

The young man started and looked at the smaller teen.

"I'm sure that Valon is still alive. If either you or Raphael need our help, we'll be more than happy to do what we can."

Alister looked at Yugi with a quiet, unreadable look before slowly nodding. "Thank you," he said simply.

He turned to Raphael with a grim look on his face that told him that it was time to resume their search. The older blonde acknowledged it briefly and said to Yugi and Atem, "You don't need to worry about transporting Alister and myself to the hospital; we need to try and find Valon if we can. Thank you for your help."

"Hold up...Raphael, right? Just wait a moment," said Bakura with an irritated look on his face, startling both of the motorcyclists. "I have a way to help you both, so I'm going to go ahead and go with you."

Ryou nudged him, shooting his counterpart a pointed look, and the tomb robber growled. "_We_ will go with you," he said, brown eyes filled with irritation.

Actually, Ryou had been engaged in a fierce discussion with his Yami since Alister had come into the room, but everyone's attention had been occupied and no one had noticed their debate; Ryou had understood that the Millennium Ring could be useful to the biker's search, though the old thief was adamant about not getting involved. Bakura had finally caved in because Ryou had—once again—bribed him with pocky.

In the end two different groups branched out from the Turtle Game Shop. One was on the search for a young Australian teenager and, possibly, his captors.

The other was on its way to the hospital.

* * *

White.

Just like Seto's duster...and Noa's clothes...

Mokuba sat mutely on a bench outside of the emergency room, waiting in vain for news on his brothers. People ran past him shouting hectic orders, their uniforms nearly blending in with the white walls save for the occasional splashes of color underneath their lab coats. He had lost track of time, ever since he had woken up in the aftermath of the accident.

_Mokuba groaned as his world slowly came into focus. He could not remember entirely what had happened...only that he'd been talking to Seto before his world began to tumble crazily...Seto had been next to him...Noa had been on the other side of the limo..._

_Seto. Noa. _Where are they?

_Why weren't they here? He had to find them…maybe the two voices that he could hear in the background knew where his brothers were…_

_"Seto?" he moaned, trying to find a familiar pair of blue eyes in the midst of blinding white and the two unfamiliar faces. _

_A nurse with short black hair and vivid green eyes smiled and said, "He's awake, doctor."_

_"Seto…where's Seto?" Mokuba mumbled, not in complete control of his voice. _

_A harried young man shined a flashlight into Mokuba's eyes, causing him to squint against the sudden assault on his eyes. "Please...where's Noa...?"_

_"It's a miracle that all he has is a concussion and a few scrapes, given the severity of the accident he was in. Truly a miracle," said the doctor in an awed tone, continuing his examination._

_Mokuba felt vaguely irritated that they were ignoring his weak but desperate questions, but at the same moment processed what the doctor had just said. A terrible foreboding filled him and dispelled whatever fog that remained in his mind. He struggled to sit up despite the nurse's and the doctor's attempt to keep him still, feeling panicked._

_"Where are my brothers? Where are they?" he wailed loudly, his voice picking up volume and echoing in the spacious room. He managed to get off the examination table and tried to leave the room, resisting the strong hands that kept him firmly on it. "Where's Noa and Seto?" _

_"Mokuba, I understand how you feel, but you have to calm down," said the nurse firmly. "If you try to get up right now, you'll only hurt yourself further and that will worry both of your brothers."_

_The youngest Kaiba hesitated before reluctantly sitting down, allowing the young woman to put her hands on Mokuba's shoulders. _

_"Both of your older brothers were seriously injured in the car accident," she began gently, and Mokuba's eyes widened. "The only reason that you aren't in the emergency room was because Mr. Kaiba sheltered you from most of the impact with his body."_

_"Can I see them?" he said desperately, tears forming in his eyes._

_Both the nurse and the doctor looked at each other for a moment and then they shook their heads._

_"Sorry, son...not yet. Their conditions won't allow it. But if you're up to it you can wait in the waiting room; we'll let you know when you can go to them," said the doctor kindly. "Believe me when I say that we won't let them die without a fight."_

Since that conversation Mokuba had been sitting on the hard bench in the room outside of the ER, silently praying that his brothers would live. If he could feel anything right now, he would feel terror; his emotions had disappeared under a numb blanket that seemed to shroud him in its depths.

He wondered how many people had sat here like he had, waiting for news of their loved ones like he was…and how many of them had been told that the one they had been praying for had died.

He shook off the morbid thought angrily. No…Seto and Noa were so strong-willed…they wouldn't stop fighting…they_ couldn't_…!

"Mokuba?" asked Roland hesitantly, appearing in the doorway to the room. All of the reporters who had been dying for information on the Kaibas had been forced to wait outside of the hospital mainly because of the stress they brought; they were really nothing more than vultures, hardly caring that there were innocent people who did not need to be interrogated in such a manner.

The youngest Kaiba brother looked blearily up at him and the head of Kaiba Corporation security resisted the sudden temptation to embrace the poor child and reassure him; it wouldn't do any good. The only thing that could put Mokuba's anxious heart at rest was good news about Seto's and Noa's conditions.

So instead, he relayed the news that Yugi and his friends had—somehow—gotten into the hospital and were outside the enclosed waiting room.

* * *

Atem's eyes narrowed grimly at the flurry of activity that was in the hospital. Every few seconds a frenzied group of paramedics would wheel out someone on a stretcher, either rushing them to the emergency room or slowly wheeling them to an unknown destination. But it wasn't the activity that had caused the former Pharaoh's eyes to narrow.

As he had watched the televised newscast the beginnings of righteous fury had begun to well in his chest. Whoever had been responsible for the rise of the Orichalcos and the incident on the highway had not only attempted to kill the Kaiba family…they had no regard for human life.

But why attack them? Seto had no idea how to work the Seal, or—as he would say, thought Atem wryly—"Why would I waste my time with some lame magic trick?"

So why had he been targeted?

Roland suddenly emerged from where, supposedly, Mokuba was waiting for news of his brothers. He looked years older, though he was only in his mid-thirties; he had removed the customary sunglasses, revealing blue-green eyes full of anxiety.

"Mokuba says to come on in—oh, could you stay for a moment?" he asked distractedly, directing his question at both Atem and Yugi.

Jounouchi and Anzu, who had been the last people to enter, looked at Roland with mingled looks of curiosity and concern. Atem signaled for them to go on ahead, and they reluctantly disappeared a moment later into the room.

Roland motioned for the two teens to follow him and led them to a secluded area, away from all of the traffic coming from the emergency room. He looked around furtively to make sure they were alone; Atem wondered what was on the older man's mind.

"Is something bothering you?" asked Yugi, sensing that something was wrong.

Roland barely acknowledged the fact that there were two Yugis; maybe Mokuba had already filled him in on the Pharaoh's return. "I heard from Master Mokuba about all the supernatural _antics_, for lack of a better word, that you have stopped," he stated.

Roland looked hesitantly at the floor before returning his eyes to Atem's, sensing perhaps that he was the one to talk to. "I was three cars over from Mr. Kaiba when the accident happened; I was on my way to work and I recognized his car. I saw what caused the crash."

"The monster that's appeared on the news," Yugi guessed grimly.

"I don't care what either the police or Mr. Kaiba may think, but I know that it was one of those monsters that was wreaking havoc some time ago—the ones with those green symbols on their heads!" Roland confirmed.

Yugi nodded in agreement. "We all agree, but why couldn't you tell all of us? Why just me and Atem?"

Now Roland had a distraught look on his face. "I didn't wish to alarm Mokuba and I feared that if I addressed your friends about the matter then they'd bring it up with him and that poor boy does not need any more stress. Unfortunately, I thought I saw some men come in here with the symbol on their heads. I only saw it for a moment, but I never forgot what that symbol looked like."

Atem visibly started. "Roland, _where_?" he asked sharply.

"I—I lost them in the crowd; they were dressed like doctors. I figured you could help me find them, before they get the chance to harm Master Kaiba or Noa in any way," replied the security man resolutely.

Atem and Yugi exchanged looks of grim determination. "Yugi, let's go," said Atem quietly, already moving away. He stopped abruptly and said, "Roland, if neither of us shows up in forty-five minutes back at the waiting room, tell our friends what you told us and start looking. We may be in trouble."

Atem rounded the corner, hearing Yugi's footsteps behind him. "Why would anyone working for the Orichalcos come here?" asked Yugi breathlessly as he caught up to him.

"I think that they might be after the Kaiba brothers—since their monster didn't finish them off, they've come to tie up loose ends. I don't know why they would come here, since all I have are theories," replied Atem grimly.

He actually had a vague sense of why the Orichalcos thugs had shown up, but he would have to find them before his suspicions were confirmed. "There's no time to waste. We have to find them before they find Kaiba_—if_ that is who they are after."

* * *

Alister surveyed the surrounding area grimly.

The area was full of decrepit and abandoned warehouses, each in various stages of collapse and covered in a thick and generous layer of snow; any one of them could have been where his captors—the ones so interested in the Orichalcos—had kept him and Raphael.

Or, for that matter, Valon.

They had split up into two groups. Alister made Raphael go with one of the silver haired twins because, if by some chance their former abductors were still around and in the mood to try to recapture the bikers, they would not be able to get both of them at once. Currently, Alister was with the quieter, calmer boy; Bakura had gone with Raphael, leaving Alister with Ryou.

"Alister, just what are we looking for?" asked Ryou, sidestepping an overturned garbage can. "I don't want to simply tag along. If I can help then tell me what I can do."

"We're looking for signs that someone was here recently. Disturbed snow, footprints, anything," said Alister curtly, his gray eyes searching for the aforementioned objects of his search.

He methodically scanned everything in sight, doubly making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be in this dismal location in the city. Alister's injuries ached somewhat, but the urgency to seek out and find Valon drowned out his pain.

Meanwhile in a different part of the same area that Alister and Ryou were searching, Bakura and Raphael were having no luck. All the warehouses looked the same to the tough blonde and Bakura's Millennium Ring seemed to be malfunctioning.

"Find Valon!" commanded the tomb robber for what had to be the hundredth time in two minutes, but the Ring did nothing more than feebly twitch. Bakura growled in frustration. "My Item can't find him; the Seal must be hiding his location from the Ring."

Raphael merely sighed. He could have predicted as much; he knew all too well what the power of the Orichalcos could do. "We'll have to search for the warehouse where I was being held," he said flatly. He looked at Bakura and said, "Could you use that Ring to find it?"

"Of course, foolish mortal. What, you think that I can't do it?" retorted the other teen angrily, uttering something in Egyptian.

Raphael didn't particularly enjoy being called a foolish mortal, but since this Millennium Ring of Bakura's seemed to be a tracking device of some kind he had no choice but to put up with it. The Egyptian boy (though he didn't look it, Raphael suspected that he had to be from Egypt) growled in an authoritative tone, "Find the warehouse!"

"What if it gets the wrong one?" asked Raphael. It was not impossible, given by the fact that they were completely surrounded by the decrepit buildings.

"_The Millennium Ring never gets anything wrong!_"

The spindles on the Ring spun crazily before pointing eastward. "That way," said Bakura smugly, already heading in that direction. "Come, foolish mortal."

Raphael again wondered why he had agreed to go with Bakura in the first place as he followed after him.

* * *

"Hey guys…where's Yugi and Atem?" asked Honda. He had just noticed that the two shorter boys were not in the room with them.

Otogi shrugged, though he himself had a concerned look on his face. "Weren't they right behind us?" he inquired.

Anzu looked down at the sleeping form of Mokuba, his head on her lap; the ebony-haired child had been asleep for about fifteen minutes, finally overcome by the stressful events of the day. Initially there had been some alarm, since Mokuba had a concussion, but the nurse that had come in to check on them had allowed it, though she had instructed that they were to wake Mokuba every half hour.

Neither she nor Jounouchi had said a word about Roland holding their friends back, though they had noticed that Roland had come back alone. She was about to tell Otogi what had happened when a familiar voice chirped, "I'm right here!"

Everyone turned to see Yugi slip in through the doorway, his eyes going to Mokuba's prone body. Sympathy was once more alight in the teen's eyes. "How's he doing?" he asked Anzu softly, trying not to wake Mokuba up.

"As well as can be expected, considering the fact that both of his brothers are in the emergency room," replied Jounouchi, cutting off Anzu's reply. He looked over at his friend and asked, "Where's Atem? And what did Roland want?"

Yugi's eyes again went to Mokuba, making certain he was asleep still before replying. "Atem's searching the hospital. Roland said he saw some people with the Orichalcos on their head come in and he wanted us to find them."

Everyone—except, obviously, Mokuba—went pale. "Did you find them?"

Yugi shook his head. "Atem sent me back here to reassure you guys and to tell you that if he isn't back in another ten minutes then we have to go look for him. He's going to try and find them," said Yugi, his eyes full of a troubled light.

"Ah, don't worry, Yug. Ol' Atem can handle himself, right? He was a Pharaoh once upon a time and he handled stuff like this on a daily basis," said Jounouchi in an attempt to cheer Yugi up. He knew what was running through his friend's mind.

The tri-colored haired teen gave a tentative smile and nodded. "You're right. He can handle himself," he said, nonetheless crossing his fingers behind his back.

* * *

Atem eyed the staircase that led to the roof of the hospital warily. He could sense the Orichalcos's evil emanating from above him. There was no doubt about it—that evil feeling was one that was not easily forgotten. However, he was reluctant to go up there alone without anyone knowing where he was. And if he did not go now, the chance to catch the culprits would be lost.

Atem frowned, wondering idly if the mental connection between him and Yugi was still up; because he could talk to his counterpart in person he had not bothered to check if the link was still existent. Would the connection still exist?

**_Yugi?_**

_...Atem, is something wrong?_ came Yugi's voice in his mind concernedly.

Atem grinned at the success of his experiment and replied mentally, **_No, Yugi. I was testing this to see if our mind link still works. _**

_Well, obviously, it seems to be working. Was there another reason?_

**_I may have found the men that Roland saw; it doesn't seem like they did anything to anyone in the hospital, thankfully. All signs indicate that they are on the roof._**

_The roof?_

**_I want you to stay where you are, Yugi Mutou._**

Atem knew exactly what his Hikari had been thinking of doing (the benefits of a mind link: he could read Yugi's thoughts), and right now he did not want his partner anywhere near the Orichalcos. Until he figured out just what it was that they were up against, Atem wanted no one he knew anywhere near it.

_But Atem, you can't do this alone! What if it's too powerful?_

Atem started. He had forgotten that the ability to read the other's mind went both ways; Yugi had probably just now read his thoughts.

**_Yugi, swear to me that you and our friends won't come up here unless I call you. Stay with Mokuba. If things get too dangerous, I will back out._**

_Atem, I—!_

**_Swear it, Yugi. Please._**

_...All right, but I'll be waiting to hear from you, Atem. Be careful._

**_I will, Yugi._**

Atem took a deep breath and began his ascent to the roof.


	5. Dangerous Introductions

He waited in the shadows, his eyes glinting in the dying sunlight. He could sense him coming now…the Great Pharaoh was approaching.

The stairway had been left unlocked on purpose; he had made sure of it. His men—as had been ordered—had vacated the building after they had completed their mission, and now he waited. He was utterly confident in how this meeting would go: the Pharaoh would come, they would talk, and then he would take the Pharaoh's soul—and his Millennium Puzzle.

The Orichalcos stone around his neck flashed, and he smiled. His target was getting closer now…any second, he would be here…

The doorknob turned. _Ah...there you are..._

The figure stood behind the hospital helicopter and watched the door open, just barely out of sight. From his vantage point he could see the Pharaoh stepping out cautiously from the darkened doorway and searching the rooftop.

He grinned. It was time to introduce himself.

"Welcome, Pharaoh," he said, allowing himself a smile.

* * *

Atem whirled at the sound of the distorted voice and scanned the rooftop quickly. When he couldn't find who had uttered the sentence, he called out in an angry voice, "Where are you?"

No answer.

The sun had just begun to set, shades of orange, yellow and red reflecting off of the white roof, making it look as if the snow itself was on fire...where had the day gone, he wondered. It had seemed like today was an endless cacophony of disastrous events—though reuniting with his friends had not counted in with that thought.

A movement by the medical helicopter alerted him to the presence he could sense was here on the roof. "Show yourself!" he snarled.

A figure emerged and Atem froze, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"_Noa_!"

Noa Kaiba stood quite calmly, considering that he was shirtless in the winter air and looked like a half-mummy. Bandages encircled his chest, but Atem could see blood seeping through them, an implication that Noa was very badly wounded. His head was also heavily bandaged underneath his thick bangs; a patch of gauze was held in place by two strips of medical tape on his left cheek. His right wrist was covered in a large cast and in a sling.

On his forehead shone the Seal of Orichalcos.

No…surely not. He had not been here that long, but he knew that Noa had reformed. Yugi had explained that to him last night; Atem could not—_would not_—believe that the mint-haired teen had relapsed into his former dark side. And it looked as if Noa was hurt—why would he deliberately get himself involved in an accident that might have killed him?

"I have been expecting you. You certainly took your time getting here, Pharaoh," Noa said smoothly, an unfamiliar voice under shading Noa's own voice. There was something familiar about this…something very familiar…

Atem abruptly looked at Noa's eyes. The normally intelligent and expressive eyes of the young man in front of him were dulled and unemotional, though his face could show emotion as the smile on it proved. His suspicions had been proved, and there was no longer a bit of doubt in his mind.

"Who are you really?" asked Atem coldly.

"Man, your memory loss is even worse than I was led to believe. I'm Noa, remember?" asked the mint-haired figure.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not the real Noa Kaiba. Again I ask you—who are you really?"

Noa gave a fake curtsy. "Well, well. So you figured out that I am not who I appear to be. Well done. I salute you," he replied with an unpleasant grin.

"How dare you hide behind someone else and force them to do your bidding, especially when they have been severely injured?" said Atem icily, barely able to restrain his rising temper. "Release Noa from your control and come out here yourself, you coward!"

As he finished saying it a horrible thought occurred to him. The doctors that worked for his unknown enemy, the ones that Roland had seen in the hospital..._what if they caused physical harm to the other Kaiba brothers?_

"I know what that look is, Pharaoh, and you need not be concerned for Mokuba Kaiba and Seto Kaiba. My lackeys were to search for at least one of the three brothers for me to use for my purposes. It did not matter which one of them they chose; after their task was finished, they were to leave the hospital. This particular boy had his injuries treated by the previously mentioned doctors for my purpose," said Noa then, grinning leisurely. "Now, I'm sure you're brimming with questions. I know I have a few for you."

"Why are you using Noa?" Atem asked coldly, his eyes locking with dead blue ones. He searched for any sign of Noa fighting against the control, but it was in vain. Noa was not in there; there was a stranger in the young Kaiba's body.

"In case you try something cute like trying to stop me via your Millennium Puzzle. I know all too well what that Puzzle of yours can do, so if you try to free young Noa's mind from my control the Orichalcos will take his soul. Of course, I could have done this with anyone here in this building, but I figure that using this boy would have a bigger impact on you than an ordinary citizen would."

"So you caused the accident on the freeway to get a hold of the Kaibas?" asked Atem grimly. Even as he said it, though, he realized that what he had said couldn't be it; it wasn't logical to attack Seto merely because his mysterious—and cowardly—enemy wanted to use them for this reason. He could have taken any one of the three at any given time. Why go to such lengths as to nearly kill them?

The response came seconds later. "Not exactly for that reason, no. I was merely using the soldier to test the Orichalcos's capabilities. The Australian has been rather stubborn on yielding the secrets to the Orichalcos, but nonetheless I needed to conduct a test based on what information I had gathered on my own and from Valon. What better way to test it? And what better way to draw you—the one I want—to a place where I could get at you?"

"Is Valon alive right now?" asked Atem. From what it sounded like, the third biker was still fighting—but then again, the being in possession of Noa's body could be lying.

"Perhaps he is, maybe he's not. You can't read my mind, so you'll just have to find out," replied Noa in a sing-song voice. "But on to other matters. How is it that you and the tomb robber have not only returned but have also had the powers of the Millennium Items that you possess fully restored as well?"

Atem bristled at the news of the so-called "test" that had resulted in so many innocent people—including the Kaiba brothers—being sent to the hospital. This man…he had _used_ his friend's concern for Seto, Noa, and Mokuba to draw Atem out; it had been because of him that the brothers had been so badly mangled.

"I'm afraid I can't answer what I don't know," he said coolly at length.

"Are you lying to me, Pharaoh? I must warn you that the consequences will be dire if you are trying to deceive me...especially for Noa Kaiba."

"I am telling you the truth."

"…Hmm. How interestin…how very interesting. That little detail will set back my plans for awhile," responded Noa after a moment's pause.

"And what plans are those?" asked Atem quietly.

Noa grinned lopsidedly. "You think I would surrender that information so easily? Shame on you, Pharaoh. I thought you were smarter than that."

"So then why have you come here?"

"Ahh...now we cut to the chase. I have come here to steal away your soul," said Noa, his face contorting into a sneer. "And not just that...I also want your Puzzle. After I finish with you, I intend to deal with Bakura; I may take your friend's souls while I'm at it."

"You'll do no such thing to them—not if I can help it," vowed Atem grimly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. The Eye of Wadjet began to shine on his forehead, ironically imitating the Seal on Noa's head. "I will not allow you to harm my friends!" he snarled.

"Temper, temper, Pharaoh," said Noa in a sing-song voice, the Orichalcos suddenly expanding and encircling the two figures. "Remember that Noa's soul hangs in the balance, so you better not do anything rash," he continued, holding up the familiar green magic card with the Seal on it.

Atem growled in frustration.

"Now then, Pharaoh. Since I am running out of time, why don't we progress to the next stage of my plan?" said Noa calmly. "I take it you are well aware of the Orichalcos's origins and how it works?"

He didn't reply.

"In case you have forgotten I will give you a refresher's course. The Orichalcos was a meteor that crashed on this earth a long time ago—nearby Atlantis. Dartz, the ruler of this prosperous city and its citizens, found the meteor and was eventually corrupted by it, as were his people. He destroyed Atlantis believing that he would create a new world freed from evil."

"I know."

"Ah, then you remember how the Seal works? Do tell me, All-Knowing Pharaoh," replied Noa in a mocking tone.

"A fragment from the meteor is needed to summon the Seal as well as the magic card that goes with it," said Atem calmly. "You already know that much about it, otherwise you would not have been able to do this little meeting."

"And you lose your soul because…?"

"I would have to lose a challenge issued by the one who invoked the Seal. Again, you already know this, so you could have told me as much. But," he said, suddenly realizing a crucial detail and beginning to smile, "that is the limit of your knowledge. You could only invoke the soldier once because Valon didn't tell you how to summon more than one multiple times. Nor did he tell you how to use the souls for whatever purpose you have in mind."

"Be quiet!" said Noa sharply, the grin disappearing off of his face. But Atem continued, a small feeling of triumph blooming in his chest.

"Not only that, but because of the lack of the Orichalcos soldiers you have to use your little henchmen to gather the souls. You obviously have a limited number, which is why you had to go to such desperate lengths to see me. You can't afford to spare anyone else because you need them to gather up souls. And your men can't afford to waste time for whatever reasons you have. Am I right?"

"SHUT UP!" Noa's face had a rather ugly look on it, confirming Atem's theory.

A few moments later, the other boy's face resumed its previous look of self-assurance. "You really are as good as I have heard about. But I still am going to walk away with your soul and your Millennium Puzzle."

"And how are you going to do that exactly?" asked Atem, baffled by his opponent's words.

Noa grinned. "I know better than to challenge you to a duel, Pharaoh. I'm very well-informed about your dueling abilities; besides, neither of us have our Duel Disks or decks, and I am on a tight schedule. A physical battle is out of the question—though you would end up losing because I'm sure that you wouldn't want to harm Noa in any shape or fashion. So instead, here's my challenge: surrender your soul willingly."

Atem stared at him. "What?"

"Say, 'I surrender'. If you don't, then I lose this challenge; I myself won't lose my soul…but Noa will be the one who suffers. If you do, then I win the challenge with your soul and Millennium Puzzle as my prizes. It's really quite simple—a mental challenge, if you will. I lose nothing, but you lose either way."

Atem clenched his fist angrily. There wasn't a way out of this; if he refused to the challenge's condition then that meant Noa would lose his soul. If he tried to free the boy's mind then he'd lose his spirit to the Orichalcos, anyway. Atem could not allow either his or Noa's soul to be taken, but he could see no way out of it; he wasn't even at all certain that his tormentor would free Noa from his control once he had captured Atem's soul.

"All right. Before the challenge starts tell me at least two things," he said then, an idea occurring to him. He could not escape the Seal, but he had one last trick up his sleeve.

"You aren't in any position to be making bargains with me, but I'll humor a dying man's last request. What are they?" said Noa evilly, his eyes glinting in triumph.

"Swear that you will release Noa after this," said Atem firmly.

The shorter teen grinned and gave a mock-bow. "Of course, my liege. Now what is the second condition, pray tell? I may do it if it is within reason," he said.

"Tell me your name and why you are doing this."

Noa frowned for a moment, his dead blue eyes narrowed. "No double-crosses, Pharaoh?" he asked finally in a suspicious tone.

"You have my word on it," said Atem, wondering if his last trick was going to work.

"Ah…so if I say my name will you surrender?"

"…Yes."

"Very well then. My name is Tsukasa Akira," said the shorter boy calmly. "I once worked for Dartz, explaining why I am so interested in the Orichalcos and my knowledge of it is so extensive—though I don't know all the details of working it, as you pointed out. But as for my methods…they will remain a secret from you. Let's just say that you and the tomb robber play a crucial part."

Atem said nothing, digesting the information with a frown. He had enough time to

Akira grinned. "Now, it's your turn to fulfill your end of the bargain. And do take your time...I want to see you agonize over saying it."

"I thought you said you were on a tight schedule?"

"I can allow time for you, dear Pharaoh."

**_Yugi._**

_Atem? What's happened?_

**_Remember this name: Tsukasa Akira. It's the name of the man who brought the Orichalcos back. _**

_Of course. But why are you saying it like that? Couldn't you've told me later?_ Yugi's voice was puzzled sounding.

**_...No. I'm afraid that in a few moments I won't be able to say much of anything._**

_What do you mean by that? _

**_I...I have to surrender my soul to the Orichalcos._**

_…WHAT? Atem, you can't do that!_

**_He's using Noa as a bargaining tool; my hands are tied, Yugi..._**

_You can't surrender your soul! I won't let you!_

**_If I don't then Noa loses his soul, Yugi. Believe me, I would do something if I could,_** Atem replied bitterly.

He abruptly cut off the connection before Yugi could reply; he didn't want this to be any harder on his partner than it already was.

"I'm waiting, Pharaoh."

Atem opened his eyes and faced Noa. "My friends will stop you," he said quietly, feeling a pang as he heard Yugi's voice crying out desperately for him to stop what he was doing through the link. He ignored it—though it was with a great amount of reluctance—and continued to gaze steadily at Akira.

"Don't make me laugh, Pharaoh. They couldn't stop me if they tried. Now, bow to me or I make Noa's soul mine."

Atem grimaced, but bowed his head; he kept his eyes on Noa, refusing to entirely submit to his opponent. Almost immediately, the Orichalcos flashed and began to shrink around Atem and already he could feel his vision clouding. He growled inwardly but forced himself to keep bowing.

There was nothing he else he could do.

* * *

Yugi sprinted desperately through the hospital, slipping on a freshly mopped floor near the entryway to the roof; his knee exploded in a fiery burst of pain but he picked himself up and haphazardly flew up the steps to the next level. Over and over he called Atem's name through the link, but he received no answer from his Yami.

"Yugi, wait up! C'mon, tell us what's going on!" called Jounouchi from somewhere behind him, nearly tripping on the floor as he hurried after the shorter boy. Roland was following immediately behind them both; even the head of security was having trouble keeping up with Yugi, however.

To them, there was no explanation for Yugi's actions; he'd been sitting in the waiting room quietly, seemingly lost in thought when he had suddenly risen to his feet with a loud cry of alarm that had woken Mokuba up and had everyone look at him fearfully. He had something about Atem and Noa being in danger and then had sprinted out of the room.

The others had agreed to stay behind mainly because they had to reassure the nearly frantic Mokuba, who had insisted on going with them; the boy was in no condition to do so, however, so the teens had to remain with him and hold him back as best as they could.

Yugi soon found the entrance to the rooftop and took the stairs two at a time, nearly breaking down the door as he stumbled onto the roof. "Atem!"

The sun had gone down by now, so Yugi could not see anything at his first glance. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the early evening, they widened in shock. "NO!"

Two figures were sprawled nearby the helicopter; upon closer investigation it was Atem and Noa, both unconscious. Yugi ran across the rooftop to where the two figures lay, slipping and sliding on the icy surface of the roof.

"Atem?" he said in a frightened voice, gripping the Pharaoh by his shoulders and turning him over onto his back. "Answer me! Atem!"

"Master Noa!" shouted Roland, passing Yugi and moving to Noa's prone figure. He carefully cradled the limp teen in his arms, fear evident in his eyes and expression; his face had an ashen look to it that could possibly compete with the snow. "Master Noa, please, open your eyes! Say something!"

But neither one responded to their calls.

"Yugi? What happened to them?" said Jounouchi softly, coming up behind Yugi.

The smaller teen shook his head and brought the upper half of Atem's body closer to him. "There was someone here that was wielding the Orichalcos. I don't know if his soul is gone or not," he whispered miserably, looking up to Jounouchi. "I should never have agreed to leave him alone."

Roland did not pay attention to what was going on around him; Noa had begun to stir and moan. "Master Noa?" he asked hopefully, watching the boy intently.

The smaller figure groaned again, muttered something incoherent, and went slack once more in Roland's arms; it proved that Noa was at least alive.

The security guard scooped him into his arms and said firmly, "I'm taking Master Noa back inside, Yugi. I'll be back with some doctors to tend to your friend."

Yugi barely acknowledged him, but Jounouchi said gratefully, "Thanks, but you just tend to Noa. We'll deal with Atem."

Roland studied them quietly for a moment before determining that they would be all right without him and went back across the rooftop, disappearing back inside the building.

Jounouchi watched the man leave before kneeling down beside Yugi. "Does he still have his soul?"

"I don't know," said Yugi dully. "He said he would have to surrender it to help Noa, but…"

"How did he tell you that?"

Yugi stared at Jounouchi as if the other teenager had grown wings. Of course! The mind link! Atem might be unconscious, but maybe there was a chance if he tried to communicate through the link!

_Atem? _He tried cautiously, hoping for an answer. If the Pharaoh responded, then maybe…just maybe…it had to work!

_Atem, please…please answer me!_

Just when Yugi had given up and had slumped dejectedly, Atem stirred and moaned weakly. Yugi's eyes widened and he said urgently, "Atem? Atem, can you hear me?"

The Pharaoh opened his eyes and blinked slowly, a blank stare on his face; his amethyst eyes were dull and unfocused. However, his eyes cleared as he looked up at Yugi, offering a weak thumbs-up and a rueful smile.

"Too bad, Akira. I guess this means I didn't lose my soul, then," he murmured before closing his eyes again wearily and slumping against the smaller teen.

Jounouchi grinned when he saw Atem regain consciousness, but then he frowned. "Who's Akira? Is he delirious or somethin'?"

Yugi quietly told him about the mental conversation that he had had with Atem in the waiting room. When he finished, the taller teenager growled.

"Tsukasa Akira's our guy, huh? Well, he's definitely on my hit list!" Jounouchi declared, slamming his fist into his open palm. "Rotten, lousy, stupid son of a—wait until I find him! He'll regret messing with us!"

Yugi didn't pay much attention to Jounouchi's rant, though he couldn't help but feel exasperated amusement. He was just grateful that Atem still had his soul and sent a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the heavens.

"We need to get Atem out of this weather," he said, shivering as a gust of wind blasted through his coat. "He's not used to this and we'll need to get him a coat."

Jounouchi agreed and carefully lifted Atem's body into his arm. At this, the Pharaoh roused some more. "Jounouchi, don't…" he began in protest.

"No arguments, Pharaoh," said Jounouchi cheerily. "You're a lightweight and I can carry you easy. Just relax—I'll let you down in a bit," he finished as he crossed the roof top and back into the hospital, Yugi trailing worriedly behind him.

What no one on the roof had noticed was that there was a cloaked figure watching them from the shadows.


	6. Gone

In his current location Tsukasa Akira swore loudly and vehemently.

"That was _not _supposed to happen!" he snarled in muted fury, his cold eyes flashing in anger. What had just happened had been unforeseen; how could someone have just—it was inconceivable...!

He had the Pharaoh right where he had wanted him, cornered with no chance of escaping; he also would have had that Kaiba brat's soul to seal the deal. It was a flawless plan, one that had taken lots of time and organization. Nothing should have gone wrong; although the Millennium Puzzle had been his main concern, Akira had not thought about any interference from anything else.

Then _he_ had shown up.

_As the Seal finished circling the Pharaoh and was about to take his soul, a cloaked figure materialized from the shadows, his features obscured by the hood he wore over his face. _

_Atem and Noa looked over at the stranger in surprise. "Who are you?" snarled Akira angrily._

_"The Pharaoh will not lose his soul to the likes of you," said the figure in an emotionless and yet strangely determined tone. _

_"What do you mean by—?"_

_Akira never got the chance to finish his inquiry._

_The cloaked man raised his hand toward the closing Seal and murmured something spoken in an unfamiliar language, one that even Akira had never heard before. Before he could react, the Orichalcos had immediately exploded, sending his vessel—the Kaiba kid—and the Pharaoh flying backward; the Pharaoh hit the helicopter and was knocked unconscious. _

_The newcomer walked over to where his vessel's body lay dazedly, placed an open palm on the forehead and said coldly, "Be gone."_

His world—through Noa Kaiba's eyes—abruptly had gone black.

Akira swore again and kicked a nearby chair over. He had been so close...! Who was that mystery man, anyway, and what right did he have to get himself involved where it did not concern him? This had not been the first time that the stranger had intervened.

He had been intermittently showing up and throwing a wrench in Akira's plans, even going so far as to thwart his intentions with the bikers. Though he still had the Australian, he had been informed that a similar cloaked figure had aided Raphael and Alister

But he had not shown himself to either one of them from what it sounded like, striking him out as an ally.

Akira paced the room impatiently, his brow furrowed in thought. What were this man's intentions? Could he be negotiated with? More importantly, how much did he know about the Orichalcos?

Obviously more than Akira did.

He slammed his hands on the table and growled, forcing himself to take calming breaths. So the cloaked man was a stumbling block to his plans...big deal. He was smarter. Akira would beat the mystery man at his own game. In the end, he would win—he was going to have the Pharaoh and the tomb robber's souls, along with their Millennium Items. Everything was still on course.

True, the Pharaoh had escaped him—for now. "Let him think that he's won. But he hasn't—he isn't even close," he said aloud, smiling wickedly.

It was rather alarming that the Pharaoh had been able to figure out so much in that short of time that he had been talking to him, but Akira could work around it. Ultimately, he would get what he wanted…he just needed to work at it until he got the job done.

He picked up a cell phone and dialed a number. When he heard an answering voice on the other line he said coldly, "I have your assignment now. Go back to your original location and execute Plan 14. Quickly now."

He hung up and grinned. "We'll see who is smarter," he said aloud.

* * *

_Blimey...'ow long 'ave I been in 'ere? Wha', did they lose the key or somethin'?_

_All right, I'll admit it—punching ol' Brutus in the face and givin' him a broken nose wasn' exactly the brightest of ideas…but 'e deserved it! 'e insulted Mother Mary! I don' care how long the cops keep me in solitary confinement! No one insults 'er!_

His eyes opened slowly. The walls of the room he was in spun and dipped crazily, causing a wave of nausea to course through him. More to stop the vertigo than the nausea, he closed his eyes again.

What on earth happened?

All he'd done was take a nap; there was not much to do in solitary confinement. Why on earth did his body feel like it had been pounded with a meat tenderizer? Had he been in a fight with the guards? No, wait…that wasn't right…he'd roughed _them_ up. Yet they hadn't hit him…just grabbed his arms and forced them into a strait jacket.

Had they moved him when he had been asleep? The cell had looked different than he remembered in the brief amount of time that his eyes had been open…and his arms no longer felt as if they were enclosed in a strait jacket. Maybe the buggers had taken pity on him and—wait a moment...

Oh.

He'd been dreaming again.

With an inordinate amount of effort, he forced his eyes open again. At first, everything was blurred and indistinct, as it had been before; the room spun so fast that he felt he was going to be sick and closed his eyes, fighting off the light-headedness as best as he could. He tried to open his eyes again and as his vision finally righted itself he began to look around.

Everything in here was dingy, musty, and had a distinct moldy smell to it; he felt that the building he was in had been lost to time and had—until quite recently—no living soul residing in it outside of the rats. He noted that he was chained to the wall via a pair of thick manacles around his wrists and ankles and inwardly growled when he noticed that they were chafing his wrists; he could see dried blood on the chain if he looked close enough.

In all likelihood, though, they were the only things keeping him from collapsing in a heap.

He became aware of the terrible aching pain that was concentrating in various parts of his body, some even erupting into fiery bursts that made his head swim and caused him to grit his teeth against it. But, as he regained more of his consciousness, he realized that it didn't hurt as much as they had initially; he barely felt anything anymore, provided that the injury was not severe enough and that he did not move.

The blokes around here had not exactly fed him (but they did give him water) since his arrival a week ago...or had it been a week and a half...? No, two weeks...aw cripes, he had lost track of time.

When had this all begun? Valon could not remember.

He remembered that he had gone out on his motorcycle Heaven knew how long ago…there was something in his memory about wanting to get out for a breath of fresh air…hadn't Raph asked him if he would get the groceries while he was out? As he'd left, he vaguely remembered hearing Alister warning him about the possibility of ice on the road. Why hadn't Raphael gone…? Oh yeah…the cold he had caught at Thanksgiving. He was still recovering from it.

"Don' worry, Raph," he mumbled weakly then, echoing what he had said that night, "I'll be back b'fore you know it."

He had been almost to the grocery store when a black car had started trying to knock him off the road. From there it was another blur—the sound of screeching metal, the guardrail snapping, falling down the grassy hillside, a sharp pain in his head, and then nothing…

When he had woken up he'd found he was in the back of a moving vehicle, blindfolded with a strip of duct tape over his mouth and his arms bound behind his back. He hadn't been able to stay awake that long and had succumbed to unconsciousness, but not without struggling first.

The men who had kidnapped him brought him to his current location, took off his blindfold and gag, then promptly began to whale on him; the fight was extremely one-sided, what with his arms remaining bound behind his back the entire time.

Another blur entered his memory…probing questions about the Orichalcos…but neither their fists nor their threats had loosened his tongue at the time. He was sure he had remained silent…

They'd kept it up for what had felt like ages, and then had left him alone for a while. Since then, they would intermittently return and try beating the information out of him, but Valon said nothing.

So why did he feel like he had lost an important battle somehow…?

Oh.

…Drat.

They had spiked the water he drank with truth serum and he had drank it without realizing it, until he'd inadvertently let slip a few crucial details about the Orichalcos. He'd clammed up immediately afterward, but the damage had already been done. No doubt the miserable buggers were having a hey-day with what they had obtained.

Since then, Valon refused to drink or eat anything that they offered, though he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep on with this vendetta.

Valon suppressed a shuddering cough and winced as a sharp flash of pain flashed through him. His body was weakened from the lack of water and food, as well as injuries he had sustained during his stay here; as a result, he was helpless to fight the cold that had arrived at least the day before. _Looks like Raph gave me whatever he had, _he thought ruefully.

Because the only way to get food or assistance was to volunteer information about the Orichalcos, he was going to have to suffer in silence; he'd rather die than be responsible for the Orichalcos's return. He had a vague suspicion that this cold was going to get worse without any attention to it, though, if it had not already.

The door opened and Valon looked up at the entering figures blearily. "Hello, Aussie. The boss wants some more information out of you, and we don't want to disappoint him," said the foremost one, holding a rusted pipe in his hands.

"...Too bad, mate. 'm jus' gonna 'ave t' disappoint 'im," replied Valon weakly.

The first man brought the pipe whistling into Valon's midriff. He gasped, colors bursting in his vision. "You'll tell us, or we'll start bringing out your favorite toys—though technically they're my personal favorites and not yours," he sneered.

Valon had a feeling that this was going to be a long session.

* * *

Alister felt the cold water run through his hair and allowed it to trickle down his face. His vision had been wavering and blurring earlier, so he had gone up to the bathroom upon his and Raphael's return to their home, stuck his head under the bathtub faucet, and turned on the water.

He could not afford to rest and would not succumb to his body's request, no matter what kind of protests his body was making; precious time was being wasted and he needed to stay alert.

The search in the warehouse had yielded nothing. He and Ryou small group had reunited with their other companions in front of the warehouse, but no clues had been found—save for what had looked horribly like dried blood and various weapons with the substance all over them (it was likely his and Raphael's blood on the instruments, he thought morbidly).

If Valon had been there, they had not found any clue as to where their young companion had been taken; Raphael had suspected that Valon probably had never been in it to begin with, since if he and Alister had escaped the chances were that they would take their youngest friend with them.

After scouring the building thoroughly, the small group had disbanded: Ryou and Bakura had gone back to meet up with Yugi and his friends at the hospital (Bakura protesting angrily all the way) to check on the Kaiba brothers, and Raphael and Alister had decided to gather their thoughts and figure out their next course of action at their residence.

Besides…no one would answer or talk to two ragged, bloody, and weary looking bikers.

Alister straightened up, turning the water faucet off and glancing at his reflection in the mirror. His gray eyes were bloodshot, framed by dark shadows under them. His skin was so pale that it looked almost translucent; his flipped magenta hair stood out against it horribly.

He grimaced at the sight, reaching up to pull his stained sweater off and over his head. Noting the bandages, he carefully undid the bandages and inspected his wounded torso.

Various cuts and bruises mottled his chest, each with its own degree of severity; one nasty looking cut had a few stitches holding it together. At the stitches on the cut, he frowned. Odd…those stitches were not the right kind for that type of injury…who had bandaged him? Certainly not a doctor.

He eyed his wounds emotionlessly a moment longer before opening the medicine cabinet, grabbing the first aid kit and stepping out into the hall. Alister entered his room, throwing his sweatshirt carelessly into the hamper; he probably would not ever wear it again.

He sat himself on the edge of the bed and began to re-bandage his injuries. It was painstakingly slow, but within ten minutes the cuts were dressed and covered by expertly applied bandages; he even took out the improperly applied stitches and carefully redid them, taking care not to aggravate the wound any further.

Alister winced, slowly rising off of his bed and walking to his closet. When he opened it, he took out a familiar purple tank top and a pair of black pants. He knew that the weather was hardly appropriate for the shirt; however, he knew that he would be able to stay awake and alert because of it.

With cold air blowing up the front of it all the time, it would be impossible for him to _not_ stay awake.

His bandages peeked out from underneath it, but he hardly cared—he never paid special attention to his appearance to begin with. Alister ignored his tired reflection in the mirror, instead choosing to go downstairs and join Raphael, who was in the kitchen.

The blonde had changed into a long-sleeved version shirt that was similar to the one he had been wearing earlier. He was poring over a map of the city when the redhead came into the kitchen, trying to find something—though what it was he was looking for Alister would have to ask him.

He cleared his throat to announce his presence. Raphael looked up at him briefly and raised an eyebrow at his outfit but said nothing about it; he knew better than to say anything. Instead, he said gruffly, "I've been looking at the map."

"And?"

"I've figured out that where we live and the warehouse we were imprisoned in are really close to each other," he said, pointing to two circled locations on the paper.

Alister frowned and sat at the table, knowing immediately what his friend was thinking. Valon could very possibly be somewhere around one of the two locations, but that wasn't enough to go on. His eyes scanned the map, landing on a familiar name. "Raphael."

"Hm?"

"The warehouse is also pretty close to the Turtle Game Shop," said Alister, picking up a pen and circling the area. "These three locations seem to form a pyramid," he continued, drawing three lines and connecting the circles with them. "We could possibly start within the set boundaries of this area and go on from what we gathered."

"And if we don't find him there? They could easily move him from one location to the next and we'd be none the wiser about it," said Raphael pessimistically. He sighed in frustration, wincing slightly. "Shoulder hurts," he said tersely when Alister looked at him in concern

The older biker frowned and said after another moment's pause, "We may need to recruit the Pharaoh and his friends. Yugi did say that he and his friends would be willing to help us…we can use them to help us search the area."

Alister nodded slowly, thinking about that idea. Though he was reluctant to ask Kaiba himself for help, he knew that without a group effort it would be almost impossible to find Valon.

"Guess we have no choice but to do just that," Alister said grimly. He stood up and strode into the hallway, heading for the hall closet. "I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder as he left.

He opened the closet door and pulled out his trenchcoat. Alister put it on and turned to return to the kitchen when he paused, tilting his head in confusion as an extreme feeling of unease filled him and he looked around. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something wrong here…

He had enough time to see the man charging him from the corner of his eyes before he was pulled into the living room, a hand going over his mouth.

He struggled furiously against his attacker, pushing back against the man violently and knocking him into the wall. When this failed to free him from his attacker he instantly went limp, becoming a ragdoll in his adversary's grip; the man was strong, but the weight of Alister's body broke his grip and Alister hit the floor. Immediately he executed a judo kick aimed at his knees, hoping to knock the attacker off balance.

Instead, his assailant dropped onto Alister's body, pinning him down and his hands going to Alister's throat. The redhead let out a strangled gasp as the man's body applied pressure onto his wounded torso but he refused to give up, struggling to get his attacker off of him with a snarl.

_Where's Raphael? Did this man get him too?_

Spots were rapidly filling his vision and making it difficult to fight, since the pressure on his throat was cutting off his air supply, but still he fought back, hoping that his older friend had not been harmed.

"Hey, Red," said his attacker with a sneer, and Alister glared up at him as he tried to punch the man. The other man easily knocked the punch away and continued to speak. "See, Aussie ain't bein' too willing to give us what we want, so we figure that maybe you might be able to convince him to let us have the information that we need. So you're gonna come with me, nice and quiet-like."

"No he's not," growled Raphael abruptly as he brought a porcelain lamp on top of the henchman's head.

The sound of breaking china rent the air and his assailant's grip loosened. Alister took the opportunity to break free, rolling out from under the man sitting on him and managing to kick his assailant in the face before collapsing on his side, struggling to recapture his breath. He'd leave this struggle to Raphael for now; entering the fight in this state would only endanger himself and distract the blonde.

By the time he had managed to get his breath back and his vision returned, Raphael had subdued the masked man and was moving to check on him. "Alister?"

The blonde got down next to him, his eyes radiating concern as he studied the other man. He had heard the racket from the kitchen and had moved out to see what was going on. When he hadn't seen Alister in the hallway, he had moved to the living room just in time; the slender man had been grappling ferociously with his attacker but it had been apparent that he had been about to lose.

Now he surveyed Alister, trying to determine if he was all right. There was a glassiness in his gray eyes that hadn't been there before and the other young man was breathing heavily, but beyond that it seemed that his friend was no worse for the wear.

The redhead looked over to the prone body of the black-clad man and eyed it with disgust. "Guess he forgot about you," said Alister grimly as he massaged his throat. When he moved his fingers away there were visible fingerprints that stood out against his pale neck.

Raphael shot the motionless figure a dirty look and retorted, "That's his problem."

"At least there was one good thing about being nearly strangled," said Alister, rising to his feet with Raphael's aid and moving to his attacker, nudging him with his foot to make certain that the intruder was still unconscious. "He confirmed that Valon is still alive."

Raphael's eyes narrowed. "I think it's high time we ask our own questions," he said, grabbing the henchman's arm and unceremoniously dragging out into the hall and starting toward the kitchen.

Alister agreed.

* * *

"'S'cuse me, doc. Me 'n' Mokuba here were wondering if you got any information on his brothers," said Jounouchi easily, stepping in the way of one of the busy looking men.

The middle aged and slightly balding man looked up at him with surprise; his name tag read Dr. Barton. "I'm sorry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, confusion evident in his eyes.

"Noa and Seto Kaiba. Do you have any information on them?" asked Jounouchi with a touch of impatience.

Dr. Barton looked down to Mokuba and recognition dawned on his face. "Oh yes, I know you," he said. "Hang on and wait here—I'll go see if I can't find out what's going on. I haven't heard anything yet from the OR, but let me go see if they've been moved to rooms," he said, hurrying to a nearby desk to get the information.

Jounouchi grinned and looked down to the raven-haired Kaiba. "See kid? What did I tell ya?" he said. "I know at least Noa's okay."

Mokuba offered a weak smile, but his eyes never left Dr. Barton.

Jounouchi sighed. Perhaps hearing that Noa had been endangered had not been good for the poor child's nerves; no one had any idea how badly Noa had been hurt, and Heaven alone knew how bad the eldest Kaiba was injured.

Yugi and Atem had remained behind to explain what had happened on the roof to his remaining friends, while Jounouchi had agreed to go with Mokuba to make sure that Akira did not try to harm the Kaibas again. The ebony-haired child still was not sure how Noa had gotten on the roof (neither was Jounouchi, for that matter), but either way he was determined to find out how his brothers were doing.

Dr. Barton finished his work on the computer, but Jounouchi noted the grim expression on the doctor's face and he felt his shoulders tighten. That look was never a good one.

The man returned to them, holding a clipboard in his hands. Dr. Barton hesitated a moment longer before saying, "I've got the information you requested."

Jounouchi narrowed his eyes at the heavy tone the older man's voice had taken. Definitely not a good omen.

"Noa Kaiba is in room 302, down the hall to the left; we have no idea how he disappeared from our sight, but his room has security guards stationed around it. His condition is stable."

Mokuba's eyes filled with relief, and he asked eagerly, "What about Seto? Is he okay?"

Jounouchi knew something was wrong when the man flinched, hesitating as he looked down at the clipboard. That sort of look was always reserved for somber occasions, he knew. Something had happened to the CEO—why else would there be this amount of reluctance to talk about Kaiba's condition?

And a few moments later his fears were confirmed.

"Your brother, Mokuba, he…he was very badly injured," said Dr. Barton slowly, not looking at either one of them. "He contracted blood poisoning due to all the metal flakes in his bloodstream. He fought as hard as he could, but…I'm sorry."

The child stared in disbelief, unwilling to comprehend what was being said to him. "No…no, that's not true! It can't be!" he cried. The doctor wouldn't look at him. "You're lying…you're lying! Tell me the truth! Where's Seto?" he wailed, tears falling.

Jounouchi felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. He already knew—he had known the minute Dr. Barton had hesitated—but it was a whole different thing having an official doctor saying it aloud.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba...but Seto Kaiba's dead."


	7. Encounters

No.

No, Kaiba wasn't…no. No way was he dead. Kaiba simply could not have given up. That was not possible. Kaiba would not simply succumb to his injuries. Kaiba was too stubborn to quit; he would not let some stupid car kill him.

Jounouchi could simply not believe that the other boy would die like this.

Mokuba was just as unwilling to believe it as Jounouchi was. "No...I can't accept that! I won't!" he said angrily, backing away from the doctor.

"Mokuba, I wish I could say I was lying. But there are five other doctors that watched him die; their signatures are on this chart. His heart stopped in the OR and...we couldn't get him back. I'm terribly sorry and I really wanted to give you a different piece of news than this," replied Dr. Barton heavily, finally looking up at the two people in front of him with tired eyes.

Relaying news such as this was never a fun thing to do—especially since Dr. Barton was well aware that Mokuba really had no one besides his brothers to look after him. Losing one of them was devastating.

Mokuba stared back in stunned silence, his eyes round and full of tears.

"I wish I could help you…but…I can't," continued the doctor in a heavy tone. "I…I really…"

Something beeped and Dr. Barton looked down at it, sighing before looking back at them. Jounouchi understood the silent apology the man was conveying and dipped his head curtly.

"I have to tend to an emergency…I really am sorry," said Dr. Barton sadly, turning on his heel and going down the hall.

The blonde teenager could not help but feel slightly angry, even though he knew that the doctor had been as gentle as he could in relaying the news. Apologies could not bring back what Mokuba had lost.

The youngest Kaiba, however, fell to his knees with a hollow look in his eyes; it was as if there was nothing left to hold him up anymore and he simply gave up. His skin had lost all color, and he looked for all the world like a vulnerable child—which he was.

Jounouchi bit his lip, big brother instincts kicking in. He had a younger sibling himself, and he could somewhat comprehend what Mokuba was going through. He got down next to the slumped child. "Mokuba?"

"He can't be gone," Mokuba muttered, seemingly unaware of the other boy's presence. His voice cracked as he said, "He's invincible, he can't die…he promised me...Seto said he'd stay forever..."

The words that followed came out in a torrent of anguish, incoherent through the sobs that were beginning to wrack Mokuba's body. Tears were starting to fall rapidly down his face and soak his shirt; one crystalline drop landed on the little boy's locket.

His voice rose and cracked as he began to wail disconsolately. "Seto! Seto, please! Don't leave me alone! Please come back! SETO!"

Jounouchi hesitated once more, and then he opened his arms mutely to the child. Mokuba immediately grabbed onto him and clung to the teen, sobbing brokenly into the Jounouchi's shirt. The ebony locks tickled Jounouchi's face, but he ignored that as he closed his arms around the boy and rubbed his back soothingly.

"I'm sorry, kid...I really am," he said softly, repeating it over and over again as the child cried. He unable to do anything else; he couldn't bring back the brother Mokuba had lost. Not even Atem had the power to bring the dead back to life.

* * *

"Bakura, are you sure we should have left Raphael and Alister alone? What if they get into some kind of trouble?"

"I could care less about their problem; they aren't completely helpless, you know. I didn't want to get involved with them to begin with, but you did say I would get pocky if I helped you on your absurd quest, so I decided to assist you," replied the tomb robber flatly, his eyes narrowed as he walked through the snow and kicked at it angrily.

"Accursed substance! I should send it to the shadows!" he continued, pulling the Ring out and pointing it at the powdery substance.

Ryou sighed and grabbed his Yami's arm, dragging him away from the curious bystanders eyeing them strangely. "Bakura, you can't send snow to the Shadow Realm," he said in an exasperated tone.

"I can try," retorted the thief, earning another sigh from Ryou.

Night had fallen only an hour ago, despite the fact that Ryou's watch claimed it was just barely after six; the two boys had split off from their other two companions nearly an hour and a half ago. Due to the fact that it was winter and daylight hours were decidedly shorter, however, it was not surprising that the sun had gone down so early.

They were about three quarters of the way to the hospital when Ryou decided to call Anzu and let her know that they were on the way. He stopped for a moment to dial her number and then continued walking as the phone rang.

"_Hello?_" came Anzu's voice on the other end of the line.

"It's Ryou; Bakura and I are almost to the hospital."

"_What about Raphael and Alister?_" she asked worriedly.

"They said that they were going to go back to their home to figure out what they were going to do next. Raphael said that they would join us at the hospital as soon as they could, however. You sound upset, is something wrong?"

"_...Atem and Noa almost lost their souls to the Orichalcos._"

"What?" Ryou yelped loudly, stopping altogether and causing Bakura to look over at him in annoyance. "Are they all right?"

"_They're fine, but we now know who's behind all this. His name is Tsukasa Akira and he used to work around the Seal of Orichalcos, though Atem says that he doesn't know too much beyond that. You should go tell Raphael and Alister that name, see if they recognize it._"

"They went home separately from us; I don't know where they live, and I don't have their phone number," said Ryou.

He heard a muffled voice in the background and Anzu said, "_Atem wants to talk to Bakura. Could you put him on?_"

Ryou nodded and gestured with his hand for Bakura to come closer. "What do you want, dolt?" asked the tomb robber in an impatient voice. When his Hikari held out the cell phone, he snarled and backed away.

"No—not a prayer. I'd rather have Anubis eat my heart out than use that soul-stealing device!" he growled, his eyes flashing with distaste at the sight of the phone.

Ryou stared in disbelief. "Bakura...are you afraid of the cell phone?" he asked incredulously, placing a hand over the mouthpiece so Anzu wouldn't hear their conversation.

The Yami shook his head with a scoff. "Oh please. There are scarier things than that foul device. It's precaution. I've seen what those things do. They steal people's souls and then hold it for ransom inside of the device so that people are always forced to use the accursed thing!"

"Bakura, I'm using the cell phone and you don't see me losing my soul, do you?"

"Your soul isn't worth the effort."

Ryou sighed. "Would you use it if I put it on speaker? That allows you to hear what Atem is saying without putting it next to your ear," he asked in resignation, knowing that Bakura probably would not even agree to that.

He was proven right a moment later when Bakura said, "Not a chance. If the Pharaoh wants to talk to me then he can come out here and see me." He marched ahead determinedly, vanishing around a corner.

"Sorry, but Bakura doesn't want to talk to him. It's complicated to explain…could you tell me what Atem wants to say to Bakura?"

"_Let me put him on_."

A few moments passed in silence before he heard a familiar voice say, "_Ryou?_"

"Atem, are you all right?" he asked. "Anzu said that you and Noa nearly lost your souls!"

"_We're fine; Noa still has his soul and I do as well. You and Bakura better be on your guard. I found out that Tsukasa Akira's goal is to get not just my soul and the Millennium Puzzle, but the Millennium Ring and Bakura's soul as well_."

"What? Why?"

"_I'm not sure...I have only theories at the moment. You do need to be prepared for anything that Akira might throw at you two._"

"We'll be careful. Thank you, Atem," said Ryou as he hung up. "Bakura, wait! I need to tell you something important!" he shouted, running in the direction his Yami had gone.

He came around the corner in time to directly face a gun barrel; in front of him he could see Bakura facing a similar predicament. The three men holding the weapons all wore dark cloaks with green stones around their necks.

"Who are you and what do you want?" said Ryou, watching the man holding the gun warily.

"We are none of your concern, and you need to come with us quietly," said a man behind Bakura, pointing his gun threateningly at him; the tomb robber rolled his eyes but did nothing else. Even he knew better than to try and mess with a modern day weapon.

Ryou gulped and wondered how they were going to get out of this mess unscathed. "Why do you need us?" he asked.

"Shut up, kid," growled a second man from behind him, one that Ryou had not seen. There was a dull _thunk _as something connected with the back of his head. Ryou gave a cry of pain and sank to his knees, feeling incredibly dizzy and pain coursing through his skull like a red-hot poker.

He heard another voice swearing vilely in a shocked and angry tone, but this was not Bakura's voice; in fact, Ryou could suddenly hear Bakura say coldly from somewhere to his left, "I don't like having modern weapons being pointed at my head."

Ryou immediately pieced together what had happened as his vision cleared: his Yami had disarmed the thug while their attention was elsewhere. He looked up, eyes watering slightly from the knock to the head he had taken.

Bakura stood next to his Hikari, surveying the surrounding henchmen with a familiar maniacal gleam in his eyes. There was something threatening about the thief's posture, something he'd seen before in another time and place, but where—?

No.

Oh no.

Not here.

The Millennium Ring began to glow in a menacing manner and Ryou knew almost immediately what was going to happen before it occurred. Purple mist began to swirl around them, the night sky above them darkening even further and blotting out the stars overhead.

"What's happening?" yelped one of the thugs in alarm, backing away from the two boys in fear. "Stop it!"

"You want to play with fire? Pretend you are all powerful with your silly little pebbles? Well, now you're playing with it," replied Bakura icily, watching with savage satisfaction as the men looked around at their new surroundings fearfully.

Ryou shivered slightly as the all too familiar atmosphere of the Shadow Realm stole over him; it was all as vivid as if it had only happened yesterday. One of the men pulled up a green pendant that glowed briefly before shattering into tiny fragments.

"Don't even try using your pathetic little rocks They don't work here; this is my realm!" cried Bakura, an evil cackle escaping his throat; his face contorted into one not unlike a terrible demon's when it had its prey at hand.

Ryou watched with horror as dark creatures detached themselves from the shadows and silently advanced toward the henchmen. He knew then what Bakura had in mind and also knew that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Bakura, don't kill them!" he said sharply, even though he knew it was not likely that his counterpart would listen to him at this point.

The white haired thief grinned at him, a feral light in his eyes. "They aren't worth the effort of killing…but that won't stop me from maiming them severely."

Ryou violently flinched at the expression and turned away just as the first of the shadow monsters reached the hapless group of men.

He heard the horrified screams seconds later.

* * *

Jounouchi wandered down the hall aimlessly, not really paying attention to where he was going.

Mokuba had gone to Noa's room to check on him and Jounouchi had felt like he would be intruding if he followed after the child. Instead, he had relayed the news of Kaiba's death and the name of the man who had kidnapped Noa to Roland and had left abruptly. Noa was still unconscious, but the security guard said that the boy had been awake a little time before the arrival of Mokuba and Jounouchi, so there was some good news.

But then, of course, Noa would wake up again to find that he was short one brother.

He walked—stumbled was more accurate—past a group of doctors, hardly caring when he bumped against a nurse, who let out a startled cry.

"Are you all right, young man?" she asked in concern. Jounouchi mumbled something under his breath and continued walking down the corridor, too lost in his thoughts to really care.

Although Jounouchi had never really liked Seto, he never wished for any kind of serious harm to be done to the CEO; true, the steely-eyed brunette had never been overly sociable to Yugi or any one of his friends, but he was still associated with the group. In a bizarre fashion, Seto was their friend.

He was almost back to the waiting room when he found a cloaked figure obstructing his way.

"What do you want?" he asked suspiciously, returning to the present and bristling at the unknown stranger. It never boded well when cloaked figures were concerned.

He got no reply, as was expected whenever he had to deal with mysterious men donning black.

"I asked you a question!" he growled, stepping forward.

The figure surveyed him coolly for a moment, unperturbed by Jounouchi's actions, before moving swiftly away down the hall and heading for the stairwell in front of them.

"Oh no you don't! Come back here!" he shouted, running after his adversary.

The figure led him through the twisting white halls, his dark outfit standing out pointedly against the scenery. Several times he thought he had lost him, but every corner yielded the mysterious figure; it almost seemed like the man was waiting for him.

"Quit running and face me, you coward!" Jounouchi shouted.

Eventually, however, Jounouchi found that he had lost his target and stopped to get his breath. He leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to figure out why such a man would be here and what purpose he had in mind.

Where _was_ he? It was cold, he noted with a frown. He took his eyes off of the ceiling and looked around at his surroundings to figure out where he had ended up.

He almost wished he hadn't.

Jounouchi had ended up in the morgue—and he found that out because of the several corpses (most of them horribly mangled; probably because they had died in the wreck) that were lying on stretchers alongside the hallway. He yelped and backed into another stretcher; he let out another frightened cry and whirled around to see a familiar figure lying on the stretcher.

"Kaiba!" he whispered, stepping back slowly and feeling the color drain from his face.

The brunette's complexion was alabaster white, a blue tint to his features because of the lights. His entire torso was heavily bandaged, medical patches on his neck and face; he had a few bandages around his right knee, wrapped around the material of his black slacks carelessly.

Jounouchi edged closer to the stretcher carefully, looking at his former rival up and down. It was one thing having a doctor say that Seto was dead…it was another thing entirely to see it for himself. Every fiber of his being was yelling at him to move, to get out of that place—but he could not get his eyes to look elsewhere.

At last, he managed to tear his eyes away from the sight and staggered back to the wall sinking against it heavily, making sure he was not facing the body. He wanted to erase what he had seen from his memory.

Jounouchi had to find a way out of this place of the dead, or he would go mad. He moved forward after a moment's confusion, heading back in the direction he had just come; maybe if he retraced his steps he would find his way out of—

The low moan caused Jounouchi to stop walking, stiffening in alarm.

No…no, that wasn't right. He hadn't heard anything, he was imagining things, he had not just heard that…

Most people who knew Jounouchi knew that there were few things the brown eyed teen was truly afraid of. The blonde would deny having any fear of anything, and as long as he was not confronted with one of those fears, he would be fine.

But people who knew Jounouchi that well also knew that he was absolutely terrified of the occult.

He turned slowly back to face Seto's body again and moved carefully back to the stretcher, suppressing every instinct in his body that was telling him to run. It was all he could do to stand there, looking at the brunette and determining if he had heard him make a sound. His knees trembled, but he forced himself to stand there.

"Kaiba?" he asked cautiously, a tremor in his voice. He shakily reached out and grabbed the older teen's shoulder firmly. The flesh beneath his grip was clammy and cold, and he suppressed a shudder. "Kaiba, can you hear me?" he continued, lightly shaking him.

Jounouchi wasn't expecting a response from a dead man—not that he wanted one at the moment—but he knew what he had heard, and he needed to make certain that Seto was not living, that he had just been imagining things...

Not that he wanted the other teen to be dead. After everything he'd seen, it was not impossible for Seto to be alive, but Jounouchi couldn't see how that was possible. Seto's heart had stopped nearly (he glanced at his watch) fifteen minutes ago; there was no way he was still in the land of the living.

Perhaps what happened next was supposed to contradict that assumption.

"Mokuba..." murmured Seto weakly, his mouth forming the word (and therefore proving that it really was him talking, so Jounouchi was forced to rule out ventriloquism from an unknown source). Jounouchi stiffened again and he froze, unable to move.

Seto's eyelids fluttered feebly and then opened. The azure eyes were dull and glazed over, and they began searching the area, presumably for his younger brother. Once the blue orbs landed on Jounouchi, but he seemed totally unaware of the fact that he was even present; it was if Seto was looking right through Jounouchi.

After a moment, they sharpened as they once again locked onto Jounouchi. For a moment he stared at him blankly, and then a weak scowl appeared on his face. "It had to be the mutt that I see first," he said with a low growl. "Terrific."

He tried to get up but hissed in pain, and the movement finally spurred Jounouchi into action. "I'm not exactly thrilled to see you either, Rich Boy," he retorted as he shoved Seto lightly back down onto the stretcher, blocking his view of the corpses that were sitting in the hallway; he doubted his rival would be pleased to find out where he was.

Seto glared up at him, trying to get up again. However, he had moved too fast and in the next second Jounouchi yelped as the brunette nearly tumbled from the stretcher, catching him and pushing him back onto it. "Take it easy, Kaiba," he said, though upon closer inspection he realized it had gone unheard—Seto had passed out.

He was initially worried Seto had died for real until he looked down and saw the slow rise and fall of the older teen's chest and heard his raspy breathing. Had he been breathing when Jounouchi had first seen him? He couldn't remember, but if Seto had it had been very faint and Jounouchi had somehow missed it.

Maybe that was how he had ended up here, he realized with a start. Perhaps the CEO's heartbeat and breathing rate had dropped to the point where the machines had stopped picking it up, giving the illusion that he was dead.

"Hang in there, Kaiba," said Jounouchi firmly, taking a hold of the stretcher's guardrail and wheeling it in an about-face movement. "I'm going to get you out of here before you figure out where you are."

He headed back in the direction he had come, but before he got to the turn he saw the cloaked figure round the corner and disappear from view. Jounouchi was tempted to go after him but repressed the urge, remembering his current situation and growled angrily.

"You're lucky this time, but next time you better watch out!" he called out, knowing that the man had heard him.

A sudden thought occurred to him. _Did he lead me down here so I'd find Kaiba before he really did kick the bucket?_

"First Atem, then Kaiba…I'm getting tired of being the one to find the supposedly dead people," he muttered, wheeling the stretcher hurriedly towards the nearest elevator.


	8. Gathering Thoughts

Raphael clenched his fist angrily, the frustration he felt openly displayed on his face. He and Alister had been interrogating the henchman that they apprehended for a good ten minutes and so far had not gotten him to say anything more than, "I ain't sayin' nothin' to you!"

After they had dragged him into the kitchen they had bound him hand and foot and sat him on one of the kitchen chairs; Alister had gone around to check for any signs of accomplices but had found nothing. If the man had any partners around they had long ago left, abandoning their comrade to face the wrath of two worried and angered bikers.

Raphael's patience was wearing thin, his blue eyes hardened by the feelings he felt. Their only lead to Valon was sitting in front of them, smugly watching as they attempted to get the information out of him; heaven alone knew how long the young Australian would be able to last, if he wasn't already dead, and this man was wasting that valuable time.

Even more pressing, at any moment the police would arrive to arrest their trespasser. One of the first things that Raphael had done after restraining the thug was to notify the authorities. The chances of the police getting anything out of the man about Valon or Akira were slim to none—this was their one chance to find out what was going on.

"I'm tired of this. Tell us where Valon is," he growled in a low tone, eyes narrowed into slits.

Alister's gray eyes were cold steel, giving the thug quite an intimidating glare; he had not forgiven the man for attacking him and looked sorely tempted to punch him. Even as Raphael watched the man looked at the redhead for a brief moment before hastily averting his eyes. The tough blonde inwardly smirked—Alister's glare could rival Seto Kaiba, though he knew better than to say that.

Nonetheless, the hired muscleman still had an air of cockiness about him, as was proven a moment later when he said, "You're gonna havta make me talk, Blondie, 'cause otherwise you ain't getting anything out of me! For all I know, the kid could be dead already."

Alister looked over at the man, unaffected by his statement. "He is alive. You told me that much, when you were busy throttling me," he said coldly.

The man smirked. "He was alive when I left—but who's to say he is now? The kid got sick some time ago, Red. He's been hacking up a lung for a good three days, and he's burnin' up like a bonfire. Not to mention that we've been beating the snot out of him. He's been lookin' for ya, too."

Both of the bikers were speechless, the color draining from their faces.

The hitman took this as a signal to continue. He cleared his throat and said in a whiny imitation of an Australian accent, "'Raph, Alister, where are you, fellas?' HA!" he laughed, his eyes glittering cruelly. "He usually says something like that every time he wakes up. We usually give him a nice good kick in the ribs for it, but it never fails. Too bad he isn't ever gonna see you again—he'll be dead by the time you find him, I guar-an-tee it."

Raphael saw red.

He moved forward abruptly, startling both Alister and the henchman by the movement. He reached down, grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt, and hauled him to his feet. His face was a mask of rage.

"_Shut up,_" he snarled, his eyes dangerous. The silent threat hung in the air like an iron curtain.

"Hey, let me down!" yelled the man, squirming in Raphael's grasp. Fear entered his face for the first time. "Put me down, you big lug!"

"Then tell me: _where is he?_" growled Raphael furiously.

The man seemed to wilt where he was; any normal person would have been trembling in fear if someone with Raphael's build was holding them in the air. Even so, he apparently still had some bravado left in him, though it was forced.

"Aw, what's the matter? I hurt your feelings, tough guy? Well, you are never going to find him—not so long as Akira keeps him hidden," he said smugly, a confident smirk on his face.

"Akira?" Alister pounced on the name the way a cat would on a mouse. "Who's Akira?"

Too late, the man realized his mistake and blanched. But he was not the only one whose face lost color.

"Akira...as in _Tsukasa_ Akira?" asked Raphael, feeling sick. If this man was truly who he thought he was...if there was any remote possibility that this was true... "_Answer me_!" he snarled so ferociously that even the stoic Alister was openly startled.

If the man had been scared before, now he was petrified. "Y-Yes! His name's Tsukasa Akira! H-he' s m-my boss!" he stammered, his attitude abandoned and his eyes wide in genuine terror.

Alister did not like where the conversation had turned. Stepping forward, he laid a hand gently on Raphael's unwounded shoulder. He had a suspicion that the strain of the last few days was finally manifesting itself in his normally level-headed friend, and the mention of this Akira figure had pushed Raphael even further to the brink.

Raphael started at the contact, glancing at the other man briefly. After a moment, he dropped the man back into the chair with a disgusted look on his face and moved to the opposite side of the kitchen; likely, he was angry at himself for his loss of control, since he was normally a non-violent person.

"Where is Akira now?" asked Alister calmly, turning back to the hitman.

"He's got his base in the old Paradius Corporation building that you and your friends used to work in while you were here," said the henchman at last, keeping a wary eye on Raphael.

"And is Valon there?" said the blonde as he turned back to face him, calming down somewhat but still looking rather intimidating.

"I don't know, I wasn't on guard duty for 'im, but he might be!" the henchman finished hastily at Raphael's dark expression, just as a knock on the front door brought all in the room to attention.

Alister vanished out into the hallway to answer the door and returned a moment later with two armed policemen. "Arrest this man for kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, breaking and entering, and assault," he said coldly, gesturing towards the man in the chair; the thug seemed all too happy to get away from them and into police custody.

Raphael quietly explained their case, smoothly leaving out the information about the Paradius Company, while Alister surveyed him attentively. The moment the three newcomers had departed the redhead turned to the older man, who was once more in the corner of the kitchen. "Raphael?"

"I'm sorry about earlier," said the burly man stiffly, not looking at him. "I just…I lost my temper when he was talking about Valon…"

"You have no idea how close I was to bringing a chair down on his head, Raphael," replied Alister, a dangerous look in his eyes. "He has no idea how lucky he is right now that he didn't."

Alister waited a moment before he asked, "Who is Akira? You've bumped into him before, obviously, or you wouldn't have reacted the way you did to his name."

Raphael finally turned at the statement, his face bore a somber look. He seemed to look years older as he sat down where the henchman had been moments before. Raphael looked down at his hands for a moment before meeting Alister's eyes.

"I knew him all right. He was originally going to be in our group back at DOOM."

* * *

Noa quietly watched Mokuba, feeling utterly miserable.

Roland had left shortly after delivering the devastating information that Seto was no longer in the land of the living; he had left to deal with the press, though Noa had said that he was not to tell the news crews the most vital details. He would prefer to announce the fact Kaiba Corporation had lost its CEO.

He was more worried about his younger stepbrother, who had not said a thing since he had entered the room.

Mokuba just…sat there. His eyes were dead and lifeless; his whole body slumped in the bedside chair. He had initially shown something that could be called relief when Noa had first seen him, but it had died as well. The boy's raven bangs hung over his face, shielding the heartbreak evident on his features.

He had really not wanted to wake up to find that his brother was dead and that he had been possessed by some insane maniac who had been responsible for it all; Atem and his friends had been in the room when he had awakened to tell him what had happened.

They had notified him of everything that had happened since the car accident had occurred—the meeting with Tsukasa Akira, the mysterious cloaked man…and in turn he had had to relate to them the news of Seto's death.

Again, something he was not pleased about.

A woman's piercing scream, muffled by the door, startled everyone from their morose thoughts. "Now what's happened?" said Otogi in complete exasperation, rising to his feet and facing the door. "Hasn't there been enough trouble for one day?"

Atem smirked slightly and stood up as well. "Judging by that scream, that would be Bakura," he said wryly.

Sure enough, they all heard an all too familiar voice snarl, "_What the devil are you screaming at, woman?_" and the door opened to reveal the tomb robber and his Hikari. They stepped into the room—actually, Bakura dragged Ryou into it—and the Yami slammed the door irritably.

"Honestly, I don't know what she was so worked up about," he muttered, fixing them all with a glare.

But in all honesty, anyone would scream too if they saw what horribly looked like blood spattered all over the Yami's clothes and features.

"And what are you all staring at?" he growled, continuing to glare at them.

"Bakura, what happened to you?" asked Honda, his hazel eyes traveling over the other boy. "And is that—?"

"If you're about to say 'blood' then yes, you're right. Some infernal Origami goons thought it would be great fun to attack us."

"You didn't kill them, did you?" asked Anzu with a gulp. Bakura's eyes rolled. "You left them alive, right?"

"I don't either know or care. I didn't exactly bother checking to see if they were alive when I was through with them," he retorted, his eyes flashing. "If they were I wasn't about to find out—they were trying to shoot us."

"Bakura…" said Atem warningly.

Bakura, however, was not yet done speaking.

"And you!" he continued angrily, pointing at the Pharaoh. "I did nothing to make these Orochimaku people angry at me, so why in Ra's name are they bothering me?"

"Because their ringleader, Tsukasa Akira, wants both your Ring and your soul," replied Atem as Yugi anxiously inquired in a soft voice if Ryou was all right.

Bakura made a noise in his throat and retorted some reply, but the words spoken were lost to Noa as the smaller boy's focus shifted back to Mokuba. The child had not even looked up when the door had opened; he had continued looking at his locket with swollen and hollow eyes.

_Mokuba…_A jolt of fear ran through the elder Kaiba as a terrifying thought hit him.

What if Mokuba stayed like this for the rest of his life?

Seto had been the point around which Mokuba's world had revolved around. The mature brunette had taken on many roles since he had been orphaned at the age of six: brother, best friend…father, even.

That world had expanded some to allow Noa into it, but it was still focused on one point—and that one point was now destroyed, killed by a mad man's designs. What was Mokuba going to do? His entire existence was owed to Seto, and now…

Noa clenched his fists in grim determination. Akira would pay for this. If it was the last thing he did, he would make sure of that.

Whatever conversation that had been going on in the room was cut off as Jounouchi's head poked itself around the doorframe and entered their field of vision. "Oh, that's good! I don't havta go lookin' for you guys!" he said cheerily, disappearing from their view for a brief moment.

All of them exchanged confused looks. "Uh, Jou? Are you all right?" asked Honda tentatively.

Everyone in the room glanced uneasily at each other; they all knew that the easy-going blonde had been present when the doctors had told Mokuba about his brother's death, so to find him acting so buoyant was bewildering (although some of them secretly were worried that Jounouchi was glad the CEO had died).

"Never better, though I need a—hold on a sec, guys—_yes they're in this room, so stop askin' me already_!" he replied, the last part of his sentence obviously being addressed to someone else.

By now, even Mokuba was looking curiously at the half-opened door. "Jounouchi?" began Anzu, getting up to investigate. She reached the door and looked through it. A few seconds later, she screamed and backed away, her face ashen.

"Anzu!" asked Yugi in alarm, getting to his feet as well. "What is it?"

But a second later the question was answered as Jounouchi kicked the door open, half-carrying, half-dragging a very familiar and heavily bandaged figure. "Honda, give me a hand here would ya?" he requested.

No one had any time to react, however, as a blur flew past them all and straight to the ailing teenage boy.

"SETO!"

At the sound of the young child's voice, Seto Kaiba's head lifted with a visible effort. His cobalt eyes focused on both of his younger brothers. "Good. You aren't hurt that badly," he rasped out faintly, struggling to straighten up.

The child buried himself in Seto's torso, beginning to sob. Seto gently placed a hand on his brother's head and held him tenderly, his eyes softening and his face shifting into that special look reserved for Mokuba. After a moment, he looked up once more.

His gaze had been on Mokuba, filling with a relieved light when he saw that there were minimal injuries on him to worry about; they next traveled to Noa. "That looks like it hurts," he said flatly, frowning with a vague hint of concern when he noted the cast on Noa's arm.

"No, I'm a masochist," Noa retorted sardonically. "I enjoy breaking my wrist and about three ribs—in fact, I said to myself this morning, 'Today, I'm going to get into a near fatal car accident and have some psycho control my mind—!'"

"What?" growled Seto in obvious displeasure, gently shoving Jounouchi away from him and stepping forward. He let out a hiss of pain and his arm shot to his side; he nearly fell to the floor.

Jounouchi lunged and carefully steadied him. "I told you to take it easy," he snapped, looking around the room for some place to set his rival down. Mokuba also held his brother up, worry in his eyes.

Noa immediately pulled the covers off of him (thanking God Almighty that the doctor hadn't put him in a hospital gown and had left his pants on) and got out of the bed, wincing as he stood up. "Put him here, Jounouchi…looks like he needs it more than me."

With the help of Honda and Jounouchi—as well as an overly concerned Mokuba—they managed to get the CEO onto the bed where Noa had been. Mokuba promptly dove into his brother's arms the moment he was situated.

"I thought I lost you!" he sobbed, tears beginning to fall once more as he buried his face into Seto's chest.

If the child was hurting him at all, the brunette gave no indication of it. His normally cold eyes softened as he looked down at his brother. "Well, I'm not dead, kiddo. I have no intention of dying just yet," he replied gently, hugging Mokuba gingerly. "

Bakura growled in disgust, "Enough with the tearful reunion, it's making me sick to my stomach! Pharaoh, explain to me why Akira's targeted me _now_!"

Atem, whose attention had been on the Kaiba brothers at the moment—as had everyone else's—looked over at him steadily, unperturbed by Bakura's glower. "I've already told you why: because he wants your Ring and your soul."

"I know that already, but why? Doesn't he want you instead?" replied Bakura in exasperation.

"Akira? Like in Tsukasa Akira?" asked Seto from the bed with a frown. "Is he the one that was 'controlling' Noa?" he continued, his frown deepening.

"So you decided to believe the hocus pocus mumbo jumbo now, Kaiba?" asked Jounouchi with a grin.

Seto merely rolled his eyes. "As if. There's probably a good explanation for what happened to Noa."

Jounouchi coughed, the noise oddly sounding a lot like the word, "Magic."

"Atem, Yugi, I don't care who's who. I think you need to fill me in on what's happened since I left you dweebs," said the CEO flatly, pointedly ignoring Jounouchi. "Because I may know just exactly where Akira is."

There was a long pause. "You do?" asked Ryou hesitantly at last, excitement filling his eyes.

All of them jumped, having completely forgotten that the soft-spoken boy had been in the room as well; Ryou had said nothing for the entirety of his return and had quietly allowed Yugi to tend to his head wound.

"Yeah, Kaiba, just how do you know? You aren't in cahoots with him, are you?" asked Honda suspiciously, eyeing Seto with what could be called a glare—in the loosest sense of the term.

Seto gave Honda a Look.

"Never mind. Just checking," muttered the other boy sheepishly, looking away.

"I know who he is because he quite recently bought the old Paradius Corporation's location on the outskirts of Domino. It was in the newspapers a while back, but I take it that no one actually bothers reading them because I apparently am the only one who knew that," replied Seto calmly, watching everyone around him for their reactions.

Otogi frowned and said after a moment, "But why would he reveal himself so carelessly? Didn't he think that someone would recognize his name if it was in the papers?"

"Unless he used a false identity. Then if the police got too suspicious, he could just vanish and start over again…did the newspaper say what Akira looked like, Kaiba?" asked Yugi.

Atem looked over at his Hikari in startled alarm, the thought just now occurring to him and everyone else. If that was the case, then Akira had lied and he would have forced Atem to give up his soul for it.

Seto looked just barely impressed. "Nice thinking, Mutou," he said. After a moment, he frowned, obviously trying to remember. "No," he said at last, "I'm pretty sure it didn't. There wasn't a picture."

"But you don't need a newspaper if you have someone who remembers what he was like," came another familiar voice from the doorway, and everyone looked up in time to watch Raphael and Alister enter the room; apparently they'd inquired of a passing nurse or possibly Roland as to their location.

The redhead and the bed-ridden brunette both locked eyes with each other almost immediately, already tensing. "Kaiba," said Alister curtly.

"Alister," replied Seto coolly.

"You're looking comfortable."

"And those lovely red fingerprints on your neck match your hair."

Raphael sighed, tapping Alister's shoulder warningly when the redhead looked as if he was about to retort again. The slender man noted it and simply contented himself with a glare.

"What did happen to your neck?" asked Mokuba, breaking the uneasy silence between his brother and the red-haired biker.

Alister looked to Mokuba and visibly relaxed. "Someone decided to break into our house and tried to strangle me," he said flatly.

"What? Are you two okay!" exclaimed Ryou, his eyes flashing.

"We're fine," said Raphael quietly as he shut the door behind him. "It was nothing we couldn't handle."

"Do you mean that you two actually met Akira?" asked Anzu in reference to the earlier comment, trailing off as Alister shook his head.

"I haven't met him, but Raphael has," he said quietly, a troubled light in his eyes.

"Tsukasa Akira isn't his real name, but it is one of his aliases. He was originally one of Dartz's soldiers when I was back at DOOM; he actually was in a pretty important position when I arrived there. Since I was new to using the Orichalcos, I was more of a tag-along when we had to go…'soul-hunting', for lack of a better word, for Dartz on more than one occasion. This was before Alister and Valon arrived."

"His past, as far as I knew about, was pretty dark; he was not exactly Mister Sociable," he said then wryly, though the humor did not reach his eyes. "Both of his parents were archaeologists researching ancient civilizations, hence how he found out about Atlantis's demise."

Here Raphael's eyes narrowed grimly. "When he did find out, he killed both of his parents and sought Dartz out, taking with him his parent's research on everything they'd done in their lifetime; I don't know why he had to kill them, but let me tell you it set me against him when I heard that. Somehow or another he finally caught up with Dartz and came under his wing."

"He _killed_ his parents?" said Honda in complete disbelief.

"My kind of guy," said Bakura in an impressed tone of voice.

Atem's eyes narrowed and he said something softly under his breath; Yugi had never heard the language that was being spoken but he had a pretty good idea that it was ancient Egyptian. Bakura retorted in an equally quiet voice but said nothing further as Raphael answered Honda's question.

"My best guess behind that is because he probably wanted to keep his identity hidden from those who once knew him, though if there's another reason he never told me. At any rate, he stuck around for awhile before he was forced to leave the temple; why I don't know, but he left mere days before Alister and Valon arrived.

"The Akira I remember was very intelligent. He was a master planner and Dartz ended up utilizing a lot of his ideas, including the concept for DOOM to disguise itself as an everyday location—though to shape it as a multimillionaire company was Dartz's own idea. Akira, however, had anger management issues and always seemed to be buried in his parent's research. He also tended to go against any orders that were made for him to do, and was a thoroughly twisted person; he liked to torture his victims as he removed their souls, using a combination of psychological warfare and physical violence," finished Raphael in distaste. "Believe me, I was happy to see him go."

Atem nodded grimly. "That sounds like the man I encountered earlier, based on that description. I was given a demonstration of his work ethic a couple of hours ago. He nearly captured Noa's soul, as well as mine."

Alister started, as did Raphael. The redhead had already heard the information regarding Akira beforehand back in their home, but neither biker knew of what events had transpired since their separation. "How did he do that?" he asked then quietly, frowning.

From what he had heard about Raphael's former opponent, it seemed as if it would be difficult to even touch Atem. The Pharaoh had definitely earned his title; it would have to be a special breed of person to be able to back him into a corner. The only reason Raphael had won against the Pharaoh was because the Orichalcos had been corrupting Atem's mind.

"He took over Noa's mind with the Orichalcos and used him as a bargaining tool," replied Atem just as quietly.

Raphael looked at Alister and then Noa; the shorter boy looked distinctly uncomfortable as the blonde's gaze seemed to pierce him. The older man's frown deepened.

"There are many things the Orichalcos can do...but I've never heard of it being used to control a person. Granted, it brings out all the darkness in a person's heart and clouds their senses, but it doesn't act as a controlling force as far as I know," he said finally. "If it was Akira, then he's found a new way to wield it."

"Raphael, you said that Akira's parents were researching ancient civilizations…which ones were they?" asked Anzu with a troubled frown. "We know that one of them was Atlantis, but what about any others? Did he ever say what they were?"

The sentence had barely left her mouth before Yugi realized exactly what she was asking; judging by the rest of his friend's faces—save Alister and Raphael—they knew what she meant. Atem looked attentively at the bikers, as did Bakura, finally showing interest in the conversation.

"...I'm not sure, really. He kept that research hidden under lock and key; I only saw it once, and even then it was only a glimpse," replied Raphael slowly.

"Anybody want to bet it has something to do with Yugi?" said Seto in a half-sarcastic tone, shifting in the bed to get a more comfortable position; Mokuba allowed him to adjust before settling down in his previous position in his brother's arms. Seto allowed him but still continued to watch Raphael and Alister.

Jounouchi and Honda snorted into their hands, muffling their laughter. Otogi, Noa and Anzu exchanged knowing looks, and Yugi turned a delicate shade of pink.

"It could be," replied Raphael. "But like I said before, it was only one look."

"So...we got a guy who murdered his parents, used to work for Dartz, knows Atem and Bakura and their Items, and has research on ancient civilizations. And we got this guy's location, too. Now what?" asked Jounouchi in a perplexed tone.

There was a long pause before Atem finally spoke. "We go there."


	9. Holding On

"Um, guys? Are you sure we should be here with no police backing us up? What if Akira catches us?" asked Jounouchi uneasily an hour later.

Yugi, Atem, Jounouchi, Bakura, Raphael, and Alister were hiding in the bushes on a small hill overlooking the Paradius lot; Ryou, Otogi, Anzu and Honda were making sure no one else attacked the Kaiba brothers.

The car they had ridden in was parked a good mile or so away from their location, so that no guards would get suspicious. They had decided not to take Otogi's car—seeing how as they would be spotted a mile away because of the light aquamarine color—and had instead used Raphael's car (he had bought one with the money he had saved up shortly after DOOM had disbanded; Valon had insisted that he did not need the car the night of his disappearance).

The former DOOM headquarters looked in heavy disrepair, but there were definite signs of more than one person occupying the building; the windows had lights on in them and armed guards passed on their patrol in the courtyard. The moon had gone behind a cloud, casting the whole area in shadows.

In the center of all the warehouses within the gated walls rose a tall silver skyscraper; its appearance reminded Yugi of the Alcatraz Tower where Seto had held his tournament. Overall, there was an ominous feeling that hung in the air as everyone looked at the building.

"We're not here to break in," replied Atem grimly in a soft tone. "We're only here to scout out the situation. We don't know if Akira is here or not, but if he isn't we'd be endangering ourselves—nto to mention that we would be placing Valon at risk," he said, noticing how Raphael and Alister were fixing the building with near identical looks of disgust and concern—the last of which was for their missing companion.

"Good point," concurred Jounouchi after a moment's pause. "Akira better hope he doesn't run into me, though!" he continued, slamming a fist into his open palm. "He'll regret it if he does!"

Raphael felt a pang as he watched the younger teen's actions; the boy's behavior reminded him strongly of Valon. The same mischievous spark in his eyes, the same brashness and boldness of character, even about the same height...Raphael sighed softly to himself, offering up a silent prayer for the Australian's safety. Alister's eyes briefly flickered with a similar pained look before vanishing once more into the emotionless gray orbs.

"Should we try to get closer?" asked Yugi in a whisper. "Maybe we should split up into groups and see if we can find a way in."

"For now, let's stay in one group if we can. Raphael and Alister know their way around this area, and it'd be a good idea if we did stick together," replied Atem firmly. "But, just in case...we should probably have a couple of groups that we can go into if we do need to split up."

"Would two people per group be enough?" asked Alister then, his eyes locking onto Yugi and Atem both.

When this group did get separated—and he knew that there was no 'if'—he did not want to have to bother with a whole mess of people getting lost; he was under enough stress already. If push came to shove he was sticking with Raphael. He had already lost one of his friends and he had no intention of letting the other one out of his sight.

Jounouchi nodded. "That sounds reasonable. There isn't much point in organizing them, seeing how as things may get a little hectic once we get in there. Just get with the person closest to you and run."

"No. If we get spotted and pursued, we need to know who is with whom," said Atem quietly. "If we don't organize ourselves now, then when the time comes we may find one of us missing."

At that point, however, a wrench was thrown into the works of their plan.

Before their small group had left, Anzu had given Yugi her cell phone and had instructed the teen to call Otogi's phone in case of trouble—seeing how as Alister and Raphael had lost their cell phones when they were captured and Jounouchi and the Yamis did not own one; Yugi had left his at home.

Someone decided to call Anzu's phone at that precise moment, and everyone found out then that her phone was not off.

"_For the love of Ra shut that abomination up before the blasted guards hear you!_" hissed Bakura sharply, scooting away from Yugi and looking down towards the hill at where the men were.

Yugi scrambled to turn it off and succeeded, but by then the guards patrolling the perimeter had began climbing up the hill, guns out of their holsters.

"What do we do now?" snapped Jounouchi, annoyed. Even from here they could all hear the sound of gun safeties being taken off.

"Split up and meet back at the car. We'll have to try scouting this place later on tonight," replied Atem sharply, his eyes narrowing as he stood up. "We haven't given up on this yet, but we need a different approach."

Ten minutes later, everyone was safely assembled in front of the car. After Atem did a quick roll call, Bakura rounded on Yugi and snarled, "Now what fool mortal decided to call that infernal device?"

Atem's eyes narrowed. "It wasn't like Yugi made the phone ring, tomb robber."

"It's still his fault! He should've turned off the blasted thing! Now answer me—_who called?_"

"I don't know," said Yugi, startled by the menacing figure of the tomb robber. "It was an unidentified number. They left a message, though."

Atem frowned at the silver-haired teen and said quietly, "He doesn't warrant your anger, Bakura. It isn't his fault."

"Yug? What's up?" asked Jounouchi suddenly, concern tingeing his voice. "Who was it?"

Yugi had decided to check the message to figure out who was calling him. He had gone pale as he listened to whatever message was being conveyed via the cell phone, though moments later it was replaced with a grim expression. He held the phone to his ear before he finally hung up.

Yugi looked at the assembled group and said in a would-be calm voice, "The one who called us did it deliberately. He didn't say who he was, but he knew we were here. He called us so we could meet him."

"How does he know the cell phone number? I may not know her as well as you four do, but I'm pretty certain that your friend doesn't give her number out to strangers," said Alister with a frown, his gray eyes troubled. "What else did this man say?"

"He said to meet him at the abandoned cottage nearby in ten minutes; it's three miles northwest from here. He also said he had valuable information concerning Akira and Valon's condition, as well as Akira's possible motives," replied Yugi, looking to Atem for direction.

The former Pharaoh frowned and mulled over this information, obviously debating, but he said nothing.

"I dunno…this whole thing reeks of 'set-up'. What if it's Akira who called? He could be waiting for us with his mini-army," said Jounouchi suspiciously, his eyes narrowing darkly.

Raphael had chosen not to say anything thus far, but he knew that even if Yugi and his friends did not agree to go to the specified location, he and Alister would. This was possibly the only lead they had as to where their young friend could be—and Raphael would not willingly pass it up. He voiced this thought a moment later to the group.

"You do have a point, Raphael," replied Atem quietly. "But there isn't any need for you two to go alone. We'll go with you both, in case it does turn out to be a trap. At any rate we may get some information out of him about what is going on involving Akira."

"So can we _go_, already? We've wasted enough time here!" growled Bakura in annoyance, his eyes flashing with irritation. Everyone agreed and got back into the car, driving towards the cabin and bracing themselves for whatever problems would present themselves upon their arrival.

* * *

"No! Absolutely NOT! You may not leave!" cried Dr. Barton in a distressed tone, still startled by the fact that Seto was alive and breathing in a hospital bed.

Seto eyed him with an incredibly bored look. "Yes, I will. I can. I am. Get over it," he replied flatly, not seeming to care about the fact that the doctor was dangerously close to having a coronary.

Understandably, Dr. Barton was more than a little shocked to learn that Seto was both alive and coherent; he was even further alarmed by the teen's persistence in getting out of the hospital. "You were clinically dead nearly three hours ago! You have no business leaving in your condition!"

"You're not exactly convincing me to change my mind."

"Mr. Kaiba, if I have to forcibly make sure you stay here then I will!"

Seto rolled his eyes, glancing at his brothers; they had mingled looks of annoyance, concern, and impatience. He knew that time was running out for them—they needed to get to Akira before he advanced any further in his plot. At any moment that madman could ambush them, and the opportunity could be given to attack his family again.

He had understood full and well that if he tried going with Atem and his friends in his current condition he would be burdensome to them. His decision to remain behind was made mainly out of concern for his brothers; he knew also that if he went they would insist on following, and Seto could not allow that.

But just because he did not intend to follow after the Dweeb Patrol that did not mean he wished to remain in the hospital. He would rather take his chances of being captured or killed outside of the hospital then remain and become a possible target to be used (that idea was laughable—he was used by _no one_). Seto had learned of what Akira had done to Noa, and while he did not agree with the magic angle of it he was absolutely determined to do whatever was humanly possible to shut Akira down.

In order to do just that, he would need to get to his computer at Kaiba Corporation. Or his home office—anywhere but the hospital would work.

He was half-tempted to remain in his current location, but seeing how as the hospital had sent him to the morgue—from what he had gathered from Jounouchi and his friends—he was none too thrilled to stay there. He had mental images of him being carted off to the morgue and having a live dissection performed on him.

With a heavy sigh, he struggled to sit up and get off the bed; Mokuba and Noa automatically moved to assist him.

"Mr. Kaiba, please! Get back in bed now!" said Dr. Barton in exasperation.

"Make me."

"You can't just simply walk out of here!"

"Watch me."

Ignoring the older man's indignant squawk he marched purposefully forward, heading for the door. His vision blurred wildly seconds later and he stopped, waiting until the room had stopped moving before he tried to take another step forward.

A hand on his arm steadied him. "Please, Dr. Barton. We'll make sure they do anything too strenuous," said Ryou quietly. Seto hesitated before reluctantly allowing Ryou to drape one of his arms over the younger boy's shoulder. "You have our word on it."

"That's right!" agreed Anzu fervently, with Honda and Otogi nodding in unison. "You can trust us!"

Mokuba watched the older man anxiously. He knew more than anyone (excepting Noa) that his older brother would not relent and settle down, the possibility of hurting himself even worse looming in the near future; Seto hated both doctors and hospitals, and as long as Akira was on the loose the eldest Kaiba would not be content to stay put.

Dr. Barton debated with himself for a moment, his eyes revealing conflicting emotions. Then he said in an exasperated voice, "All right, but the moment his condition worsens he comes back here. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"Sure thing, doc," said Honda with a grin. "C'mon, guys, let's go!"

"Where are we going exactly, Kaiba?" asked Otogi as they slowly walked out of the room and started toward the elevators.

Seto said nothing for a few moments, debating on his next course of action—which involved deciding the fate of his brothers. On the one hand, he could allow them to come with him to Kaiba Corporation. But on the other hand…

"Mokuba, call Roland and tell him to pull his car out back of the hospital; we'll go that way to avoid unwanted press. Then give the phone to me. Otogi, you get your car and drive it there too," said Seto curtly, pulling himself free of Ryou and swaying unsteadily before managing to right himself. He flatly ignored any invitation of help from the assembled teens.

"Why do we need two cars?" asked Anzu with a frown.

"Seven people can't fit in my car…it only holds six," replied Otogi.

Actually, Seto had a totally different reason for needing both cars, but he would need to tell only Roland that reason. If he voiced what was currently running through his head he knew that both Mokuba and Noa would protest. However, he would not risk their safety again. He was going after Akira, and he needed to know that there was no way for the madman to get ahold of his brothers.

With that thought in mind he stepped forward purposefully.

* * *

He floated listlessly in the darkness, his spirit shattered and his thoughts unfocused.

He had spent very little time in this place, seeing how as his resistance and his spirit would not allow him to succumb to Darkness' effects. But as time had passed in the company of the blasted guards, his physical strength had waned.

They had beat him longer this time, even long after he had fallen unconscious; he had woken up to flying fists and pipes whistling in the air, thumping onto his body. One time he heard a sickening crunch and a searing pain ignited in his arm, causing him to scream with what was left of his voice.

But even that had not broken his spirit.

They could starve him, beat him, deny him water or medical attention—Valon would stand his ground and fight tooth and nail against them. During his time wandering the streets and while in prison he had learned the fundamental rule of the world: survival of the fittest. Those who allowed themselves to be trampled underfoot would die.

No…what had finally broken him was what they had done to his friends…what Akira had done to them…the very act that had driven him into the darkness and recesses of his mind. He had gone numb, no longer able to feel the pain in his body—but Akira's words beat him just as mercilessly.

_"Face it, Valon. No one could care less about you. You've caused too much trouble to too many people…why would they want to even _be_ with you? That nun's dead because of you—and your friends…they have joined her."_

_Valon fought back against the guards, desperately struggling to gain his feet and to attack Akira. "Shut up! You're lyin' 'n' you aren' foolin' me!" he shouted, his voice breaking from the stress. He gasped as a fist slammed into his stomach and knocked the wind out of him. _

_"Really?" replied Akira coolly._

_"Raph and Alister aren' dead—I know it! They aren' tha' easy t' get rid of!" said Valon hoarsely, hating how weak and pitiful his voice was. Breathing had become a problem for him; the combination of the cold and the lack of water caused his throat to remain irritated and his tongue feeling like dry parchment. His vision blurred and spun dizzily, but he managed to deliver a defiant glare._

_"Oh, but I did. They were here, Valon. They found our location and were bent on leaving with you or die trying. I decided to go with the latter."_

"_You lyin'—!"_

_"Do you want proof? I knew that you would refuse to believe me…so after they were killed I relieved them of their possessions."_

_As he finished speaking he dug a hand into his coat pocket and fished out two objects. He held them up, a look of sadistic enjoyment spreading across his face. But Valon did not even see the look, for his eyes had locked onto what was in the cruel man's hand._

_Both of the older bikers had their own families once; they had been torn asunder by Dartz's mad designs. Alister's mother and younger brother, Miruko, had been killed in a war-torn country. Raphael had lost his parents and two younger siblings, Sonia and Julien, to a disastrous shipwreck. Both incidents had been caused by Dartz in order to secure the two young men; he had even burned down the church where Valon had been living in, Mother Mary trapped within its walls. _

_Both Alister and Raphael still had small reminders of their family left to them, however._

_Alister very rarely left Miruko's broken and charred action figure at home; he had always preferred to carry it around with him in his trenchcoat pocket. Valon had seen it so many times before that it was impossible to mistake it. And Raphael had a similar charm—the last birthday present he had gotten from Sonia and Julien, the Guardian Eatos Duel Monsters card. He, too, very rarely let it out of sight._

_Both of these objects were being held up._

_And the action figure was covered in crimson liquid._

_"No...aw no..." murmured Valon in shock, his eyes never leaving either of the objects. They were speaking a silent testimony—an irreversible one. _

_He heard footsteps, felt a hand on his jaw that forced him to look up into Akira's mask, and clearly heard the words that were being spoken in a now dangerous hiss._

_"They tried so hard to get you back—and it's what killed them. Typical. You've always caused trouble for them, and now you've ended their existence. Their deaths are your fault."_

_"No...Tha's not—!"_

_"It is your fault that silly nun died. It is your fault that Miss Kujaku can never return to her former friends. It is your fault that Raphael and Alister died…I'm beginning to see the pattern here. Any problems concerning the ones you care about happened directly because of you. Not Dartz. Not them. _You._"_

_"STOP IT!"_

_"Stop what? Being honest? You know as well as I do that what I say is factual. Everything you've done caused them annoyance, inconvenience, suffering, and death. You are nothing but a worthless—"_

_"NO!"_

_"—unwanted—"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

_"—orphan. Even your own parents didn't want you; they abandoned you when it convenienced them."_

_Fury coursed through him and he fought back against the thugs holding him back with a burst of strength. "YOU SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"_

_"My my. It seems you have a little fight left in you. This is to be expected from someone who refuses to see the truth. You have no point in resisting my demands anymore. No one cares about you enough to try to rescue you—those who might have had the notion to care for you are dead. And it is all because of you."_

And honestly, Valon was forced to agree.

It was true, after all…if only he had allowed Raphael to drive with him to the store, if only he had not taken Mai to Dartz, if only he had not run out to find the bullies that had shoved Mother Mary about…so many if only's, and if he had done the right thing each time, they would be alive—and in Mai's case, happy.

The hope that his friends were coming had been his crutch, something he had drawn hope from. With that faith irreversibly shattered, what reasons did he have not to tell Akira what he wanted to know?

For that matter, what reasons did he have to live?

_Don't think like that._

The woman's stern and yet kindly voice echoed in his mind, and the cerulean eyes widened. He had heard this voice years ago, so far back in his past that he had nearly forgotten it. But now, though he could not see her…he knew Mother Mary was there with him.

_Your friends are alive, Valon, _continued the voice kindly. _Akira is lying to you…you must keep living._

But he was so weak…and as much as he hated to admit it, it could be that he was hallucinating due to lack of food, water, and first aid. Even so, he desperately clung to her words. He needed another crutch to hold him up, just for a little longer.

"All righ', then. I won' give up," he mumbled wearily, uncertain if he had spoken aloud.

And as he felt the nun's presence leave he allowed his consciousness to slip away once more.


	10. Motives and Revelations

Atem stepped out of the car determinedly, his violet eyes scanning the area.

They had found the deserted cabin that their mysterious caller had told them about in a small clearing; from this position they could see the top of the Paradius building. Moonlight filtered through the tree branches, peppering the ground with light and shadow. The cabin itself bore all the signs of having someone residing within it—a light within one of the windows was evidence of that.

Another sign of life was the cloaked man standing on the porch.

"Are you the one who called us?" asked Atem in an authorative tone, his voice seeming to echo around the clearing. He heard movement behind him and knew that the rest of the group had left the car. He kept his attention on the man before him, however, gauging if he was a threat or not.

Nothing much could be determined about the man's identity, other than his height. The cloak's hood was draped in such a way as to obscure all facial features. He almost blended into the night save for the light coming from both the moon and the cabin that illuminated the edges of his cloak.

"I am," replied the other figure simply, offering no further greeting. "And I am neither friend nor foe—consider me as a neutral ally, merely participating to prevent the rise of the Orichalcos."

The voice was matter-of-fact and spoken with an odd smoothness; Atem felt as if he had heard the voice before, but he could not place where he had heard it. He frowned and asked, "If you are not taking sides, then why did you call us here?"

"Simply put, Pharaoh: you need to know what you are dealing with. I called you here also to prevent any temptation to enter the building; Akira is in a different location as of right now, but he plans to transfer himself here later on this evening. Valon is not in the building, either. If you had decided to enter, you would have jeopardized both his life and your own."

"Is Valon alive?" asked Raphael quietly. If this stranger knew about Akira's movements, surely he should know the condition of their young friend.

The cloaked figure said nothing for a moment and then slowly nodded. "For the time being, he is still in the land of the living, but I am not certain how much longer that will last," he replied carefully.

"Hey, wait a minute…how do you know Valon's not in there anyway?" said Jounouchi suspiciously, his brown eyes narrowed. "And how'd you get Anzu's cell number?"

"Can you really be so stupid and still be breathing?" growled Bakura in annoyance. "How do you think he knows that Akira isn't here unless he wasn't spying on him, dolt? And if he knows Akira's movements then he knows about the foolish mortal that he's holding prisoner."

"Valon is _not_ a 'foolish mortal'," retorted Alister coldly, gray eyes narrowed at Bakura. The tomb robber rolled his eyes in an 'I could care less' sort of gesture, but otherwise did not reply.

"Jounouchi does have a point, though—how did you get Anzu's phone number?" asked Yugi quickly before Jounouchi could start an argument with Bakura; that was the last thing that anybody needed. "She doesn't give it out to just anyone."

"You are correct in that statement. For now, let's just say that we've encountered each other before and I had access to that information. It is barely past nine o'clock now. Akira will arrive at midnight and I only have so much time to explain what his motives are. Pharaoh, they directly concern both you and your easily irritated friend there."

Bakura bristled in indignation when the man gestured to him, but he was cut off as Atem said, "Yes, we have gathered that much. And we also know much about Akira's past—excepting his real name—but we know nothing of why he is so interested in both the Orichalcos and us."

"Ah…I see. Raphael, it's a lucky thing that you remembered him; you've given me time that I would have spent explaining what you know," said the man after a moment's pause.

They all started, wondering how it was that he knew Raphael's name, but for the moment let the subject drop.

"Akira never told anyone his real name so that no one could go into his past and use anything from there. Has he mentioned any hints as to why he's been after you?" said their mysterious ally.

"To get our Millennium Items," replied Atem firmly. "And he nearly succeeded in doing just that. I feel like there is more to this than what meets the eye, however."

"You would be correct. I am aware of your encounter on the hospital roof, Pharaoh—I am the one who put a stop to it. And I am also the one that prevented Akira from receiving both the Ring and the Puzzle."

Atem started. "So you are the same man after all…I thought so. But do you know his reasons for wanting the Items we hold?"

"You are aware of the origin of your Millennium Items, Pharaoh? Tomb Robber?"

"Of course I am, you dolt! It was _my _village that the blasted Pharaoh annihilated!" snarled Bakura angrily.

Atem looked at the silver haired teen and murmured something in ancient Egyptian, to which Bakura retorted sharply to in the same language. The cloaked figure merely watched, choosing to remain silent.

The bikers, meanwhile, were more than a little confused as to the turn of the conversation. "What are they talking about?" asked Raphael with a frown.

Yugi opened his mouth to explain when the stranger cleared his throat and began to speak again. "I can explain that as well, Raphael. The Millennium Items were forged with a powerful dark magic; the souls of an entire Egyptian village fuels their power. The village in question was Bakura's home," he said.

At Raphael's and Alister's appalled expressions the man sighed. "I did not say that they were pleasant origins."

"So how did the Millennium Items get back to begin with? And how did Akira find out they were back?" asked Yugi. "Not even Atem knew if the Items had returned."

"Simple. Akira knew the Items had returned because he was responsible for their return. He used a form of dark magic to bring back the Millennium Items, but he found that they had limited power and that two of them—the Puzzle and the Ring—were unaccounted for. Akira has tried using the Items he has, to limited success; you were given a demonstration of the Millennium Rod's power on the roof, Pharaoh. That is the only Millennium Item that still has even a trace of its power. The rest of them are useless to him now, seeing how as they lost their power when you, Pharaoh, returned to the afterlife.

"His plan is to reclaim the Ring and the Puzzle and, along with the current Items he possesses, destroy them."

"But why would he do that?" said Jounouchi with a small frown. "He went to a lot of trouble to get them back…I mean, he can't exactly order those Millennium Items out of a catalogue, so what's he thinking?"

"To answer your first question, the current Items all are bound to their previous owners; the reason why the Millennium Rod could not be wielded so easily is because it is still bound to Marik Ishtar—and to Seto Kaiba as well, if he so desired to use the Item. He combined both the Orichalcos and the Millennium Rod's powers in order to arrange that little meeting; whether it has any power left or not has yet to be seen."

"Well…okay, that explains that. But it doesn't explain what his plan is," said Yugi doubtfully.

"Once he has amassed all of the Millennium Items, he must destroy all at the same time in order to advance his plan."

"And that would be…?" asked Jounouchi skeptically.

"Think about what the Orichalcos does, boy. Think about the Millennium Items and how they came to be. Now, what do you see?" replied the man flatly.

Atem paled immediately. "No…It cannot be. Are you absolutely certain about this?"

"Of course, Pharaoh."

"Certain about what?" asked Yugi nervously, but his amethyst eyes went round with alarm as the same thought hit him; Atem had inadvertently transmitted his thoughts through the mind link.

"Would someone enlighten the rest of us as to what you two are thinking of?" said Bakura irritably. Even as he said it, though, he suddenly seemed to understand. His brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "Surely not."

Raphael and Alister looked lost, as did Jounouchi. "Okay, you three. Fill us in. What's going on?" asked Jounouchi impatiently. "We're not mind readers. What's Akira up to?"

Atem simply looked up at him with a blank expression. "Akira's planning to recreate the Millennium Items by using the Orichalcos," he said.

"…_What?"_

* * *

Mokuba was _furious_.

He knew that this had been done to protect both him and Noa, but that did not lessen his anger any. In fact, Noa was just as indignant and angry as Mokuba was, but both of them could do nothing about their current location.

After collecting his shirt from a distraught nurse—who was still shaken up after bumping into a certain blood-covered individual—Seto had managed to walk all the way to the back entrance of the hospital without assistance. Otogi and Roland had been waiting for him, the security guard failing to conceal his relief at Seto's appearance. Seto had gone to the back door of Roland's car and had opened it, instructing his brothers to get in.

"I'll be riding in the front," he had said simply, blue eyes firm.

But the moment they had gotten in, Seto had told Roland to drive back to the Kaiba mansion and was not to let either Mokuba or Noa leave the car.

Mokuba knew that Seto was only concerned for his welfare, but nonetheless he wanted to assist Seto in any way he could. He didn't want to be sent home like a little child. And he knew Noa felt the same way; the mint-haired boy felt like he was useless already, thanks to his injuries.

"Well,_ I_ don't feel like a third wheel," said Noa bitterly, his eyes narrowed. "Nope, not at all..."

Mokuba sighed. "Seto just doesn't want us to get hurt any worse than we are."

"Yeah, but Dr. Sohma can make sure of that. We should be allowed to go, too. What are we, toddlers? We could take care of ourselves!" snapped Noa angrily, blue eyes hurt.

Without warning, something collided with the side of the car.

"NOT AGAIN!" cried both boys in unison.

The car swerved violently, skidding desperately out of control. A sudden impact sent both boys flying to the floor, crying out with alarm. Their world was suddenly plunged into darkness as they lost consciousness.

* * *

Sometime later, a pair of stormy blue-grey eyes opened.

Mokuba groaned, his head throbbing worse than ever; his head had crashed against the door on his side upon impact. He sat up shakily, trying to look out the window to see what had hit them, but his vision was blurring too badly at the moment. "Noa! Noa, are you okay?" he called.

"When my body stops screaming bloody murder, I'll get back to you on that," retorted Noa, wincing as his wrist throbbed. He was more than a little annoyed at the impact. "This is getting old…Roland, what just happened?"

No answer. "Roland?"

Noa unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the front seat. The security guard was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious; from the look of things, he had also hit his head—perhaps too hard. Noa gulped and shook the other man's shoulder. "Roland?" he asked again.

Still nothing.

Deciding to try to figure out what had just happened, Noa looked out of all the windows. He figured maybe another car had hit them. His eyes traveled around the area, trying to see if there was any other car, but there was nothing.

He did see three Orichalcos soldiers moving slowly toward the vehicle, however.

He noted that the creatures were large—apparently too large to move quickly. But they still were getting closer, and their driver was unconscious.

Noa unbuckled Roland and carefully but quickly began to attempt moving him to the back seat. "Mokuba, help!" he cried. "We've got trouble coming at us, and I need Roland back there and you up here!"

The raven-haired child took one look at the situation and immediately began to help Noa move the unconscious man. A few seconds later they managed to get Roland into the back and Mokuba slid into the passenger side of the car.

"Do you know how to drive?" asked Mokuba anxiously.

_No_. "I'm twenty years old, Mokuba. Of course I know how to drive!" he replied irritably, struggling to reach the gas pedal.

"Technically, we don't know how old you are!" retorted Mokuba, noticing Noa's predicament. He quickly adjusted the driver's seat forward to allow his stepbrother to reach the pedals, and Noa finally pressed his foot against one of them.

Nothing happened.

"Noa, that's the_ brake_!" screeched Mokuba in alarm.

"I knew that!"

Noa pressed on the other pedal, and they shot forward, driving through the assembled monsters. He let out a startled yelp as the car quickly accelerated. He hadn't expected the car to move so fast! "I need you to act as navigator and direct me towards home!"

"Don't you know where it is?"

"Not from behind the driver's wheel!"

He looked in the rearview mirror and gulped. "Mokuba, quick question. Those monsters aren't supposed to have wings, are they?"

Mokuba frowned. "I…don't really know. Why are you asking?"

"Because they have them now—and they're right behind us!" cried Noa, quickly turning the wheel to avoid one of the soldier's axes.

They nearly collided with oncoming traffic as they frantically tried to avoid being hit. One car accident per day kept the doctor relatively occupied, and neither boy wished to return to the hospital. In desperation, Noa turned down a side road, hoping that traffic wasn't as heavy here.

"NOA, WATCH OUT!" Mokuba screamed in alarm as someone abruptly ran out in front of them.

Noa slammed his foot on the brake hard and stopped just in front of the person. When Mokuba saw who they had nearly hit his eyes widened in surprise. "Dr. Sohma?"

"Who?" asked Noa in confusion. His gaze landed on the man that was lit up by the headlights.

"That's Yugi's family doctor; they only just hired him a couple weeks ago," said Mokuba distractedly.

Sure enough, the black-haired older man was standing in front of the headlights, shielding his eyes and looking right at them. When he saw just who was in the driver seat he smiled in relief and went to them. "Mokuba! Noa! You're all right! Thank heavens—I saw what was on the news—quick, we need to get out of here!"

"Couldn't agree with you more, Dr. Sohma! Get in!" replied Noa sharply, noting that the Orichalcos monsters were right behind them. The moment that the door shut was the moment they took off again. "What are _you_ running from?"

"I was driving on my way home when this horrible monster ambushed me and made me wreck my car! Then this strange man told me to come with him or 'lose my soul'! When I asked him why, he said that he was doing this because of Yugi! What in the world has been happening?"

"Tell ya what—why don't we explain that after we lose them!" said Noa, mentally cursing as he turned sharply around a corner.

"Let me drive," said Dr. Sohma quickly. "I'm fairly certain that you could use a rest, and it probably is difficult to drive with a broken wrist."

"And how do you propose to switch seats? I have to lose them first!" retorted Noa angrily. "But if you want to try to take over, be my guest!"

Expertly, Dr. Sohma took hold of the wheel and held it in place. "All right. Noa, get in the back with Mokuba. Quickly!"

Noa scrambled over the back of the seat and sat down, buckling his seatbelt. He winced as a sharp turn made him hit his wounded side, but thankfully not his broken wrist. He turned in the seat to see how close behind the monsters were and blinked in confusion. "They're gone!"

The creatures had vanished into thin air. But Noa knew better than to not expect them around there somewhere. There had been one too many of those situations in his short lifetime to not expect it. And sure enough...

Dr. Sohma let out a startled cry as the Orichalcos soldiers reappeared in front of them. He slammed his foot on the brake and the car lurched to a halt. "Now what'll we do?" he moaned. "There's no escape!"

"Don't talk like that!" said Noa sharply, his mind racing to think of a way out. "Back up!"

Dr. Sohma began to comply, but one of the monsters grabbed the front of the vehicle and held it in place. He let out another startled cry. "Now what?"

"BAIL!" said Noa sharply, grabbing Mokuba with his uninjured wrist and dragging him out of the car. Dr. Sohma followed suit—after pulling Roland onto his back—and managed to keep up with the fleeing boys as they ran away from the assembled soldiers.

They ran for an unmeasured amount of time, twisting and turning around every corner. Every time they thought they had lost the Orichalcos soldiers, they would be proven wrong and they were forced to run again. They soon found themselves in an abandoned alleyway, gasping for breath.

"Did we lose them?" panted Mokuba wearily, looking at Noa.

"Sure hope so, cause I can't run anymore," replied Noa, equally as weary as Mokuba—more so because he had been injured far worse than he wished to admit. He turned to face their other companion, who had set Roland down. "Dr. Sohma, are you—?"

A sharp pain ignited in Noa's broken wrist as Dr. Sohma grabbed it harshly.

"Let go of him!" shouted Mokuba angrily when Noa's pained scream rent the air. "You're hurting him!"

"That's the point, you little brat!" retorted Dr. Sohma evilly, his eyes lit up with sadistic delight.

"Mokuba, run...get out of here!" Noa said in a shaky voice, realizing that Dr. Sohma was in actuality a bad guy. He should have realized that something was wrong—it was too much of a coincidence that Dr. Sohma had shown up as he had. He groaned as his wrist throbbed. Struggling would only make the pain worse—and besides, he was too worn out from being chased to free himself.

Mokuba narrowed his eyes and shook his head stubbornly. "No! I'm not leaving you here!" He lunged at Dr. Sohma, tackling the older man around his waist. "Let go of him!" he cried.

Dr. Sohma was highly unconcerned about the boy's attack. He watched him boredly for a moment before he delivered a karate chop to the base of Mokuba's neck. The child went limp, falling to the ground facedown.

"Mokuba!" shouted Noa in alarm, struggling to free himself. Dr. Sohma sneered in contempt at Noa's attempts and—using the broken wrist—put him into an armlock. Noa hissed in pain.

"You there, take that one back to headquarters. Leave that man there for the garbage man to find. I've got this one," said Dr. Sohma smoothly, tugging on Noa's arm enough to make the smaller teen groan.

Noa watched through blurred eyes as an Orichalcos soldier threw Mokuba's unconscious body over its shoulder and began to fly off; its wings were hampered by Mokuba's unmoving form, causing it to rise awkwardly. Willing himself not to pass out from the pain, he growled weakly, "Dr. Sohma...I'll get you for this! You better hope you can hide, because when I get out of this!"

"Actually, Noa Kaiba, I would prefer it if you would call me by my real name—'Dr. Sohma' is really quite lame sounding when you have a name as awe-inspiring as Tsukasa Akira. Now, time for you to take a little nap."

Noa felt a sharp pressure on the base of his neck and he fell into darkness.


	11. So It Begins

"But why? Why would he destroy the old Millennium Items and make new ones?" asked Raphael with a slight frown. "I don't know nearly enough about them, but it sounds like they're fairly difficult to create and it would be a bother to try obtaining new ones."

"And once he's finished using the Orichalcos to gather enough souls...what then? What happens to the Orichalcos and the captured souls?" continued Alister.

"What do you think will happen, you fool? Once the souls have gone into the new Millennium Items they cannot be extracted again, and what use will the Orichalcos be then?" growled Bakura from where he was leaning against the wall.

They had been discussing this for half an hour now, and had decided for safety reasons to move indoors. The interior of the cabin was furnished with the barest minimum of objects: a sofa in the corner, a table in the center of the room, a few chairs, and the lamp that was giving off their source of light.

"Bakura's right," said their cloaked 'ally'. "Though he may be wrong about the permanency of the captured souls...there may be a possible way to reverse it should Akira succeed, but—"

The cloaked man looked up abruptly.

"What's wrong?" asked Yugi nervously, noting the way the man's posture had stiffened.

"...I have to leave for a few moments. Take this time to notify your friends as to our location," came the short reply as the man opened the door and vanished into the night darkness.

Jounouchi moved to see where he went and stood in the doorway with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Hey...he just up and disappeared!" exclaimed Jounouchi in startled surprise. "Did he teleport?"

Atem narrowed his eyes, offering no comment. He had a growing suspicion that he knew who they were talking to, but for the moment he decided to remain silent on the subject. Instead he focused his thoughts on the new information that they had received.

The Millennium Items were a huge source of power, capable of either protecting or destroying the world. In Akira's hands, that sort of power would become harmful. But the question in his mind was this: what did Akira intend to do with the Millennium Items? Raphael was right in the sense that they were fairly difficult to recreate. And Alister had also struck a good point—what would happen to the Orichalcos after the Items were recreated? Would its strength intensify with the Millennium Items?

His eyes traveled around the room, briefly landing on an incredibly bored-looking Bakura. So far, the tomb robber had been mostly irritated at the fact Akira was targeting him, but Atem had a feeling that Bakura's short temper was dangerously coming close to exploding. He could only hope that the old thief would not take it out on any of his friends.

His gaze next went to both Raphael and Alister, both of which were quietly looking out at the night via the window. Both bikers were also reaching their breaking point. If Valon was not located soon—and if he was dead—then they might understandably snap. But they still appeared to be struggling to maintain their self-control, so they still had hope.

Atem sighed and absently watched Yugi and Jounouchi speaking on Anzu's phone. There was one more question in the Pharaoh's mind, a very important one that he had been thinking of every minute since his return, and he wondered vaguely if Bakura was thinking about it as well.

_When all of this is said and done...will we return to the afterlife?_

He could not honestly answer that question.

"He's back," said Alister flatly, watching the window. "And it looks like he's got someone with him..."

Abruptly he stopped talking, his gray eyes widening slightly. "Yugi, if Kaiba is on the phone let him know that his brothers are here."

"What?" yelped Jounouchi in surprise.

The blonde teenager hurried to the window to see the sight for himself, but Alister was already heading for the door and opening it for the man.

The cloaked figure had Mokuba's and Noa's limp figures draped over his arms; Alister took Mokuba from the man and shut the door with his foot.

"What happened to them?" asked Atem, directing the question at the man.

The reply came as the man was setting Noa carefully on the sofa. "Akira is what happened."

"Are they all right?" asked Yugi in alarm, glancing at Mokuba in relief as the child stirred in Alister's arms.

"Ask them for yourselves," replied the man curtly. "Pharaoh, tomb raider...if I could speak to you outside. The situation has changed in the past few hours."

* * *

Otogi kept his eyes on the road, choosing not to turn around when he heard Seto let out a strangled cry. Since he was the one who was driving, he figured it would be a bad idea to take his eyes off the road.

As he had gotten acquainted to Yugi and his friends, he had grown used to their strange quirks and experiences. And since trouble followed them around like a magnet, he knew there was simply no point in allowing himself to worry about the future.

Instead, he asked in a rather resigned voice, "What's happened now?"

"I don't know...Kaiba, what's wrong?" asked Ryou hesitantly, but he was ignored as Seto said in a clipped voice, "Are they all right?"

He listened intently for a long moment before slightly relaxing. "That's good...are they awake?"

Anzu and Ryou exchanged worried glances. "Kaiba, what's happened? Does it have anything to do with Yugi?" whispered Anzu anxiously.

"Where are you?" said Seto flatly, obviously ignoring them. He listened for another moment before curtly nodding. "Stay there until we arrive. Don't move from that spot."

He hung up, resting his head back against the headrest in weariness. "Mokuba and Noa ended up unconscious somehow and are with the others. Akira again—he attacked them, this time without me there," he said at last, his eyes darkening in immense displeasure.

"So where are they at?" asked Ryou. "I heard you say something a while ago about them being near here…how far away are they?"

"Otogi, they're in a cabin ten minutes away from Paradius. Yugi told me to tell you to turn left at the first dirt path big enough for a car to fit through," said Seto flatly, both answering the question and ignoring Ryou at the same time.

_It takes true talent to do that,_ thought Otogi with a sigh as he turned toward the building that filled the night's skyline.

* * *

Some distance away, Akira smirked to himself in delight.

So far, Plan 14 was working perfectly—well, except for the fact that cloaked man had once again intervened in his plans. He had shown up from literally nowhere, said something authoratively in that strange language of his, and the Orichalcos soldiers had disappeared. Then he had gathered the two unconscious Kaiba brothers into his arms and vanished.

But that was no matter; his true targets were the mysterious man, the Pharaoh, and the tomb raider. And besides, his pawn had been set. He no longer would trouble himself about it.

And as for Raphael and Alister, he was thoroughly enjoying making them suffer. He knew that Valon was 'precious' to their little mismatched 'family' and if he died it would tear the other two bikers apart. For a moment, he debated on shoving the bound, badly beaten figure at his feet out of the helicopter they were in.

Nah. He wanted to see the looks on their faces as they watched Valon die.

But still, he was sorely tempted.

"We're nearly there, sir," said the pilot over the roar of the helicopter. Akira nodded once, looking out at the place where his empire would begin. Yes, he knew perfectly well that the Pharaoh and his friends were congregating at some out of the way cabin near there (he fancied that he could see it), but he knew it wouldn't matter.

He would still win.

Akira always won.

* * *

His head throbbed with a vengeance, and he was having trouble making his eyes open.

How many times had he felt like this today? _Let me count the ways..._

He'd been knocked out in the first car accident, then he'd taken a mental leave of absence as Akira had been controlling him, knocked out _again_ after Akira released him, shortly after that getting knocked out for the fourth time in the second car accident, and finally getting knocked out by Akira himself...making that a grand total of five times today.

How special. He'd probably been unconscious for half the day. _Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that,_ he thought wryly.

He heard someone calling his name, though it sounded as if it were coming from the opposite side of a very big field. After a moment of brief confusion, he focused on it and willed himself to return to consciousness.

Noa opened his eyes to meet blue-grey ones watching him in concern. They brightened in relief. "Noa, you're awake!" cried Mokuba in delight. "Are you okay?"

Relief washed over him as he realized his younger stepbrother was perfectly fine, albeit the possibility of Mokuba having a headache was presenting itself. "If 'okay' means that I'm not dead, then yeah, I'm okay. What about you?"

The events of what had happened hit him suddenly and he sat up in alarm. "Akira—!"

"Relax, dude, he ain't here. He'd be in a whole world of hurt if he was," came Jounouchi's voice, and Noa looked around to find the blonde with one of his trademark grins on his face. His eyes traveled around the room and met with Yugi, Atem, Bakura, Alister, Raphael and a man shrouded in a black cloak. Nowhere in the room could he see Akira.

"Did Mokuba tell you two about what happened?" Noa asked, wincing as his wrist gave him a friendly reminder about what had occurred. He looked at Yugi and Atem to see their reactions.

"Yeah, he did. I can't believe Dr. Sohma would attack you guys like that!" said Yugi, a distressed look filling his eyes.

"It doesn't give me much hope about what he said in reference to our conditions," said Raphael, gesturing to himself and Alister.

The way Atem and Bakura looked made Noa wonder if they knew already the piece of news he was about to say; the same went for the mystery man. Nonetheless, he knew he had to say what he had to. "Raphael, do you remember what Akira looked like last time you saw him?" he asked heavily.

"He changed his appearance so often I never knew what he really looked like. Why do you ask?"

"Did he ever favor a look with black hair, gold eyes behind glasses, middle-aged feel to him?"

"Noa, do you know something that we don't?" asked Jounouchi slowly, his brown eyes narrowing.

But Raphael nodded and said, "Yes, he did, actually. Why?"

Noa hesitated. "You two were unconscious when Dr. Sohma examined you...so that's probably why you didn't recognize Akira."

The impact of his words took a little bit to sink in, but when it did everyone blanched.

"Are you saying that Akira is Dr. Sohma?" Yugi said at last, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Figures—the Pharaoh's infamous ability to attract people who double cross him has struck again," muttered Bakura under his breath, but to say he wasn't annoyed would be lying. This whole mess was finally starting to thoroughly anger him, and he was intent on letting Akira know what he _really_ thought of him.

Raphael's mind was reeling with shock. To think, Akira had been so close...and the only reason he had missed him was because he'd passed out. He should have realized that Akira would do something like that; Raphael had watched it happen so many times before that it should have immediately been thought of. But his concern for Valon's well being had drowned out the warning. He clenched his fists in frustration.

Alister himself was angry, but it was not at the fact that he had missed Akira. It was the fact that their enemy was parading around them and probably having a good laugh over the double-cross. He had harmed—no, nearly killed—an innocent child twice that evening. And meanwhile, Heaven alone only knew how they were going to find Valon before it was too late...if he wasn't dead already...

Atem, if at all possible, was more furious than even Seto could ever be. This man...he was manipulating them, backing them into a corner, endangering lives...and for _what_? Now, Atem vowed, Akira would have to be dealt with. No more hiding, no more waiting. As soon as the others got back, they were going to strike.

"It makes sense. That's how Akira knew Atem was back—shoot, that may be the reason why he knows so much about us. There's always somethin' weird goin' on at the Shop, and it would take someone dumber than me not to—wait, that came out wrong..." said Jounouchi, a flustered look on his face.

"No, mutt, that's correct; you _do_ lack intelligence," said Seto flatly as he entered the cabin.

They jumped, startled at his sudden appearance. Behind Seto, they could see the rest of their missing friends as they looked in. Ryou and Anzu had relieved looks on their face, and Honda was grinning. Otogi was not there; currently, he was parking the car somewhere out of sight.

Seto saw Mokuba and Noa and made a beeline for them, ignoring Jounouchi's indignant response. He began to thoroughly investigate his brothers, reassuring himself of their conditions.

"Where have you guys been?" asked Yugi worriedly. "We were so worried about you!"

"Well, for starters, Dr. Barton wasn't thrilled that I wanted to leave. Then I had to run over to Kaiba Corporation to retrieve a few odds and ends. Finally, we ended up being chased halfway across the town by several Orichalcos soldiers," replied Seto as he investigated the bump on Mokuba's head.

"Wait a moment, did you say 'several'?" said Alister abruptly, his grey eyes narrowing and flashing in alarm.

"Yeah, they nearly wrecked my car," said Otogi in an annoyed tone as he appeared in the doorway.

"And come to think of it, there were a couple chasing us as well," said Noa, his frown deepening.

Raphael and Alister exchanged worried glances. "I was under the distinct impression that Akira only knew how to summon only one at a time," said Raphael slowly.

"Does that mean that maybe Valon told them something?" wondered Anzu aloud, worry in her eyes.

"As far as I know, he is still alive," said the man in the cloak. "But now, time is of the essence. We need to move quickly. Akira knows that we are here, so our best chance is to get inside Paradius and head him off."

"Right, so how are we going to do this?" asked Honda. "We have—" he did a quick head count, "thirteen people—going in such a big group is pretty much out."

"What if we split up again? Me, Yug, Atem, Honda, Anzu, and Otogi in one group, and Raphael, Alister, Bakura, Ryou, and the Kaiba brothers in another one?" suggested Jounouchi, but Seto shook his head slowly.

"I'm not going in."

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "Kaiba, are you going chicken on us?" asked Otogi.

Seto shot him one of his infamous death glares but said nothing.

"It's because of your injuries, isn't it?" guessed Alister quietly.

_Of course. Kaiba is too proud to say it right away_, thought Atem wryly.

"You're correct," said Seto grudgingly, shooting Alister a look; the redhead merely raised an eyebrow. "But I'm not going to remain entirely useless," replied Seto, opening his briefcase to reveal a laptop inside of it. "I'll be watching from the computers and gathering incriminating information on Akira. In the event he does escape, he isn't going to get far."

"Then we're staying too!" said Mokuba stubbornly, Noa looking determined as well. "We aren't going to get separated again, Nii-sama."

"Seeing how as the last time I left you two alone got you nearly captured, I'll agree," said Seto flatly. "Which reminds me, I better have someone find out about Roland; I haven't heard from—"

Seto's phone began to ring.

"...him," finished Seto as he pulled out his phone and quietly spoke to someone who they could safely assume was Roland.

"We now have ten people that need a group. So, we can split up five each and we're even," said Yugi, but now Atem looked uncomfortable.

"Yugi...Bakura and I, as well as this man—" he waved his arm in the direction of the cloaked man, "are going alone to face Akira."

"What? Are you two nuts? Akira will tear you guys apart!" said Honda in alarm.

"Are you kidding me? I survived the massacre of my entire village. I highly doubt that Akira has that kind of power yet," snorted Bakura derisively.

There was a moment of worried silence

"Besides, they need to do this alone. It is their task to stop Akira—believe me, you will have your own purpose soon enough," said the cloaked man at last.

Yugi looked to his Yami for a contradiction, but the Pharaoh briefly shook his head. _Atem, why though? We can help!_

**_Yugi...please. _**

_Last time I let you go alone, you nearly lost your soul! I can't do that again! We're partners!_

**_Yugi, hear me out. This time, Akira has no shield for him to hide behind. If you came along, what would stop him from hurting you? There's another reason, but..._**

_What? What reason, Atem?_

All Yugi got, however, was silence. At length, Yugi took a deep breath and said in a would-be calm voice, "All right...but be careful, Atem."

After a few more moments of debating, the groups were arranged in the following: Raphael and Alister were in one group (despite the fact they were weary, neither of them wanted to be split up), another group composed of Anzu, Ryou, and Yugi, the third contained of Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi, the fourth had all three Kaiba brothers in the cabin, and the fifth had Atem, Bakura, and their mystery man.

Atem took a deep breath. So, it was finally happening; it was so hard to believe that he had come just last night. Time had seemed to drag on forever...or it had sped up. One of the two. He noticed the rest of the group leaving and he followed after them.

"Atem."

He turned around to face Seto. The brunette's eyes were hard and lit with a cold fire, his entire posture regal and demanding even though the bandages were adorning him.

"Don't you dare lose to him. If you die, I'll bring you back and kill you myself. We still have a duel to do. Clear?" he said coldly, watching Atem intently.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you, Kaiba?" Atem responded, allowing a small smile on his face. "I won't lose."

He stepped outside to where the others were waiting. Without another word, everyone began to follow the cloaked figure as he led the way to Paradius. As they walked, the groups began whispering among themselves.

"Someone want to explain why we aren't driving?" whispered Honda to Otogi.

"Because they'll see us, that's why," came the annoyed response.

"Nah, it's just 'cause Otogi doesn't want his car to get blown up," muttered Jounouchi with a grin. A pair of emerald eyes flashed in anger. Promptly, all three boys started to argue in escalating whispers.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "I need female friends in the worse way," she said with a sigh.

Meanwhile, the cloaked figure had left Atem and Bakura to join Rapahel and Alister.

"Are you two genuinely worried about your Australian friend?" he asked them quietly.

Alister shot him a dark look. "No, we're out here looking for Valon because we're bored," he snapped sarcastically. "Of course we're worried!"

Raphael had to concur. "I'm hoping we get him back alive," he said, unable to picture what would happen if his friend was dead when they finally found him.

"I see…so in a way, you've made your own family," mused the man aloud, causing both Raphael and Alister to stare at him in surprise. "I'm certain Dartz did not know about this bond."

The man was silent for a moment. "Do you forgive Dartz for what he did?"

Both of the bikers looked at him in disbelief and anger. "Forgive him? For what? Killing my seven year old brother? Taking away Raphael's entire family, including estranging him from his living relatives today? Burning alive the only person who'd shown Valon kindness?" snapped Alister, his gray eyes full of an angry fire.

"...So that's a no, then?"

The twin glares shot at the stranger spoke louder than words.

Raphael at the moment didn't trust himself to speak; he had believed in Dartz the most. Alister and Valon had not cared too much, but Raphael had. And the way he had been thrown away, like a useless tool, and after learning that he had been used...it had hurt. More than being kicked out of his family and almost as much as losing his family.

"But if not for Dartz, you yourselves would not have even known each other. You would not be here. I do not try to justify what he did…but I do certainly hope that in the end, he changed. I can also hope that somewhere in the world, he is atoning for what he did, to you and the other people whose lives he destroyed."

"Or, I suppose that hoping he's burning in the deepest part of Hell is good, too," said Alister coolly.

"Hmm..."

The man stepped forward to catch up to Atem and Bakura, but he turned for the briefest of moments and said quietly, "Everyone deserves a chance of redemption...even those condemned to darkness."

Before the two could respond, he was hurrying forward up to Atem's and Bakura's location.

"...Did you mean what you said, Alister? About Dartz?" asked Raphael quietly, watching the younger man attentively. He didn't finish the sentence, but he knew Alister knew what he was talking about.

"No—that was something Valon said once. I figured that he needed a say in this conversation, too." Alister recognized it too. "Do you think Dartz is alive?"

"I don't know, but whether or not he is isn't my concern. As long as he stays away from us all, I'll be content not knowing how he is."

* * *

Noa watched Seto type rapidly on the keyboard of the laptop.

Frankly, the two younger Kaibas were fairly useless right now, but it was better being with Seto than being locked in the Kaiba mansion. They had managed to get a hold of Roland, and the older man had instructions to notify the police about Akira's activities once Seto hacked into the computer mainframe and retrieved the necessary documents.

"Won't the court reject these?" asked Noa with a slight frown. "We're getting them by illegal means."

Seto looked at Noa with a smirk. "Not if Akira licensed their release."

Sneaky.

Seto was adept enough with computers to actually make it look as if Akira had emailed them to him. In the court, Akira would not be able to prove otherwise unless he was really good at hack recognition. "And besides, there's Valon's condition to consider. Akira's going to jail for kidnapping, at the least, not to mention for attempted murder."

"True..."

"For the moment, we're shutting down the electronic security so that Yugi and his little friends can get inside. Once they're in, I'll start my search."

Mokuba had dozed off on the sofa, his face peaceful and his breathing even. Seto looked over at his younger brother for a moment with a look that radiated gentleness. Rising from his chair, he crossed the room and took off his duster to drape it over his sleeping brother.

Noa watched with a pang of jealousy. The two other Kaibas were bonded so thoroughly to each other...he more often than not felt like a third wheel. He'd never had siblings, and his mother had faded away from his memories; she'd been the one who had offered Noa love. Her influence on Gozaburo was noticeable.

Noa wondered if her sudden disappearance was cause for Gozaburo to snap.

He noted that Seto had returned to his seat and had resumed his typing. His eyes were cold and determined as he worked, never leaving the screen. He'd had practice—Seto had probably done this every night since being adopted by Gozaburo.

Sighing, he left his thoughts and continued to watch the screen in case Seto made a typo.

It was an unsaid rule amongst the brothers: don't speak or think of the past.

The unspoken part of _that_ was, "Don't bring it up at all."

* * *

They arrived in front of the forbidding silhouette of Paradius twenty minutes later.

Before arriving, the assembled groups had given themselves self-appointed tasks: Jounouchi's was going to take down any and all guards that they came across, Yugi's was going to distract said guards, Raphael and Alister were going to locate Valon, and the Pharaoh's group...

Atem looked at the cloaked figure quietly before turning to the rest of his friends. "You all need to be incredibly careful once you're inside. Akira's bound to have guards at every turn, so..."

"I thought you were just kidding about that. You guys are going to fight Akira without us?" asked Honda in a disbelieving whisper.

"The Millennium Items are my responsibility—and I have to make sure that the remaining ones are not used any further for evil," he replied. "I can't fight the other Items without Bakura's assistance, and besides...you all need to shut down Paradius while we take Akira down. And I'm certain Raphael and Alister would prefer to find Valon than to go with us."

The two bikers shot their former enemy looks of varying gratefulness.

"Atem's right. We'll keep Akira's goon squad at bay while they go for the kill. They won't know what hit 'em!" said Jounouchi confidently.

Atem noticed a troubled look on Raphael's face and understood the dilemma. "You two don't need to worry about us. Focus your efforts on finding Valon and getting him out alive."

"We've got more than enough manpower to defeat Akira—we're wasting so much effort on such a weakling," growled Bakura in annoyance. "So get him and get out."

"Thank you," said both of the bikers simultaneously, shooting each other startled glances.

"Yugi, you take your group in from the northeast. Jounouchi, the northwest. We'll go in the front, and you two can go in from here," said Atem, his eyes flashing. "Akira's expecting us, so he'll be watching for any of you. Hopefully, he won't realize that the rest of you are here."

"Right. See you when this is all over," Otogi supplied with a grin, following after his group. Yugi flashed his partner a thumbs up before also disappearing. Atem watched them go before he and Bakura headed in the direction of the gate.

The cloaked man, however, lingered behind for a moment.

"Valon is somewhere on the twelfth floor; his health has definitely declined, but if you're fast enough you can reach him before he slips away."

Raphael's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know where he is?"

There was a long pause. At last, the man looked up and the burly man could suddenly catch a glimpse of a pair of golden eyes watching him with a tired expression. "I already took so much away from you both. This is the only way that I can make it up to you, my former soldiers."

The man turned from them before either of them could comment and walked away, his cloak fading into the darkness.

Both Alister and Raphael had frozen. That voice was now recognizable; they'd heard that voice almost every day for years and had seen those eyes every day in that amount of time. In truth, they had both subconsciously realized who it was.

Neither of them had wanted to admit it, though.

After a few more moments of stunned silence, the two young men headed forward into the nearest doorway, their surprise replaced by grim determination.

_We're coming. Hold on a little longer, Valon. Please hang on._

* * *

Atem spotted their guide coming forward and said, "Did you tell them?"

"...Not directly."

"You know, if you hadn't used this infernal Orikiri to begin with this would have never happened," observed Bakura flatly, watching in a bored look as the man finally took off his hood.

A pair of golden eyes that was framed by long aquamarine hair flickered briefly in irritation, though he chose to remain silent.

"We should get going. Akira's waiting…though why you chose to reveal yourself now…"

"I've hidden long enough. It's time Akira was disciplined by his old master," said Dartz coldly, stepping forward into the gateway behind Atem.

The former ruler of Atlantis had already disclosed his identity to both of them, when he had called them outside after returning from rescuing Mokuba and Noa. Apparently, he had not died after Atem had defeated him; he had been vague, but the general message that they had gotten was that he was in atonement. He had also discussed something of importance to them, but Atem did not want to dwell on that train of thought.

_Here we come, Akira, _thought Atem determinedly. "It ends here," he said aloud.

"Let's go already!" snapped Bakura, moving forward as well. "I have had enough of this Orichikas nonsense!"

"Well said," murmured Atem.

The trio arrived at the door, watching grimly as the doors opened on their own accord. Taking a deep breath, Atem entered into the darkened doorway. He heard Bakura and Dartz following him, their footsteps echoing off of the tile floor.

The lobby was small and spacious, the receptionist's desk empty. A few sofa chairs decorated the lobby, and magazines littered the coffee tables. One might say that it was a regular lobby in a regular corporate building.

Not one of the trio were fooled.

"Dartz, is Akira here?" asked Atem grimly as they walked through the empty lobby, their footsteps echoing eerily through the room.

A nod. "The roof. He already knew we were coming here, so he set it up on purpose. The elevators will be shut off once we get to him, and the stairs will be blocked. There won't be any escape once we're up there."

"Yeah—for him," said Bakura derisively.

They headed for the nearest elevator and boarded it. Atem pushed the button for the roof and they began to ascend.

_Atem...be safe._

**_I will, Yugi. The same goes for you._**

Atem watched as the doors opened to reveal the rather open and wide rooftop. As they stepped out, a figure from the shadows stepped into the center of the roof. "Welcome, Pharaoh...tomb raider...and my dear Master Dartz," said an all-too familiar voice.

Akira stood with a wicked grin on his face. The previously tidy black hair of Dr. Sohma was whipping wildly in the wind, and his golden eyes looked almost feral. He had changed out of his doctor's uniform into billowing black robes.

"So, we meet face to face this time, Pharaoh. No masks...no shields...nothing. And my, my, Master Dartz...I certainly thought you had died."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Akira chuckled. "Yes...and tomb robber? I thought you hated the Pharaoh."

"I do—but you dragged me into this pointless mess, so I hate you more," retorted Bakura angrily.

"Isn't that cute? But enough chit-chat. Do you three know what these are?" said Akira, tossing three golden objects to Atem, Bakura, and Dartz.

Atem stared at the ancient Diadahnks in recognition, as did Bakura. Dartz's eyes narrowed.

"So, here's the deal. We duel—ancient Egypt style—and if you all lose, your souls will be destroyed and I will gain possession of the Millennium Items you two possess."

"And if we win, you release any and all souls you've taken thus far," said Atem firmly.

A careless shrug. "_If_ you win. Now then..."

Akira brandished his own golden disk and shouted, "Come forth—Leviathan!"

A huge winding serpent suddenly burst from the shadows. Its scales were coal black and its eyes were golden embers. It bared its deadly fangs and hissed venomously at them.

"Diabound!" called Bakura, watching as his own creature appear from the darkness. Right now, thanks to Bakura's temper, the creature was as powerful as it had been when it had been defeated.

"Black Magician!" commanded Atem authoratively, smiling slightly as his servant appeared at last. Clad in purple garments and his hair a shade of violet, the former holder of the Millennium Ring bowed silently to the Pharaoh.

"What, that old fool?" muttered Bakura under his breath in annoyance.

"Mirror Knights!" called Dartz as four shining knights materialized in front of him. In the night, their silver armor was the only thing that stood out in the darkness.

Four voices rang out in the night air.

"ATTACK!"


	12. Fallen Comrade

From somewhere above them, Jounouchi and the others could hear muffled explosions.

Currently, their group was on the second floor; only now were they seeing any guards. So far, they had taken down a grand total of three of them. They had raided a broom closet and now brandished several 'weapons.'

"Jou, why am I using a feather duster?"

"'Cause I'm too manly for it, and you aren't."

"Get over yourself, Mutt."

"What did you call me, Otogi?"

"At least I'm carrying the glass cleaner."

"Yeah, and glass cleaner is more useful...how, exactly?"

"I can use it like pepper spray."

"Can you hit people over the head with it?"

"Knock it off, you two!" hissed Honda at length, watching as a whole group of men suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Time to bash some heads in!" cried Jounouchi, moving forward. He reached the lead goon and delivered a gut punch, spinning off of his left foot to drive his right knee into another guard's groin. Brandishing his mop, he used it to whack the semi-automatic away from the guard who had drawn it.

"Hey, man, save some for us!" yelped Honda, tackling two guards to bring them down.

Otogi nodded, spraying a particularly burly looking guard in the face with the glass cleaner before chucking it at another guard. He delivered a karate chop to the base of another man's neck before noticing Honda in trouble. He moved quickly, tackling another guard as well. _This is going to be a long night..._

At length, they finished off the last of the "goon parade" and stood, slightly panting but triumphant. "How many did you get, Honda?"

"About four. You?"

"Six," said Jounouchi proudly.

"Ha! Beat you by one," said Otogi triumphantly, smirking with amusement at the expression on the blonde's face.

"What? Why I oughta—!"

"Save it for later, would ya?" growled Honda in annoyance. "We're still on the second floor."

"Oh, yeah..."

Meanwhile, Yugi, Anzu, and Ryou were having their own troubles.

They had deviated from their previous plan to distract the guards when they had noticed a loud wailing sound, somewhere on the third floor. Following the sound of it, they soon found themselves on a small balcony overlooking large room filled with people of varying ages. All of them were chained to the wall. They did a brief head count to find at least fifteen people.

"Who are all these people?" asked Ryou in a whisper, his eyes horrified.

"I don't know...but we have to help them," replied Yugi firmly.

"Okay, but how? Yugi, in case you haven't noticed, we don't have any musclemen in our group," said Anzu doubtfully. "I can see at least two or three guards, and they're as burly as Raphael."

"Then maybe we should even the odds."

All three of them jumped at the sound of Raphael's voice. Turning, they spotted both him and Alister as they stepped away from the corner they had been hiding in.

"I thought you two were supposed to be finding Valon," said Ryou in slight consternation.

"Yeah, but then we saw you three about to try something crazy. We'll take out the guards; you get these people out of here," replied Alister quietly.

"Are you sure? You both are pretty badly hurt..." Yugi trailed off as Raphael gave him a curt nod.

"Believe me—we can take them. But don't expect us to stick around too long."

Yugi, Ryou, and Anzu nodded. They knew why.

Raphael frowned, looking to see if there were any more guards in the room than the two Anzu had spotted. After looking carefully, he finally noticed another two in the corner. "Alister?"

"I'll take those two. Get the taller ones." Alister had seen them too.

They launched themselves forward, Alister moving like lightning. Although he was not tall and burly like Raphael nor muscular like Valon, he made up for the lack of power with his speed. He demonstrated it by taking down the first guard before the second one could react. He turned around to face his new antagonist, who was now circling him.

"Nice to see you again. Are you checking in permanently this time?" asked the thug tauntingly, moving almost as fast as Alister and catching the redhead in the ribs.

Backing away, Alister allowed his gray eyes to check briefly for Raphael and noted that he was holding his own—although he was obviously favoring his injured shoulder. He turned his attention back to the guard in time to block a roundhouse kick intended for his injured torso.

Yugi watched the proceedings anxiously as he ran to the table and grabbed two sets of keys. Anzu took one pair and headed for the left side of the room; Yugi took to the right. Ryou, however, had spotted Raphael wearing down and he moved to assist.

Bakura had always been insistent on Ryou learning self-defense ("If you utterly defeated one of those bullies, then they wouldn't bother you so much!"), but because of his gentle nature he had refused to use that knowledge. Now he had no other alternative: if he didn't, Raphael would be hurt worse.

He brought the heel of his foot as hard as he could manage into the small of a thug's back, praying that it would have the desired effect. Sure enough, the man crumpled to the floor, winded and clutching his back in pain. The other thug turned his attention to Ryou, and Raphael took the opportunity to take the man down.

This was good, because at the moment Ryou's entire leg was numb.

Across the room, Alister had managed to defeat the thug he was currently dealing with and was now heading to check on Raphael. After a brief moment of regarding each other, they turned and began tying up the fallen guards.

Anzu and Yugi unchained every person they could get to, receiving their cries of thanks with warm smiles. "We're saved!" cried one elderly woman in joy, tears running down her cheeks. Three small children shyly hugged Yugi in gratitude.

"It wasn't just us, thank those two as well," said Yugi, gesturing to Raphael and Alister. The two acknowledged the remark but then turned and headed the way they had come in.

"Where are they going? What if the guards come back?" cried one man in vexation.

"One of their friends is trapped somewhere in this building, and they're worried about him," replied Anzu firmly. "But why on earth are you here?"

"We were captured to prevent our loved ones from betraying Akira," replied the same elderly lady who had been crying. "I'm Rose. This is my husband, Frank," she continued, pointing to a balding man in his fifties. "That's Mary—" a finger toward a pregnant young woman, "—her son and daughter, Joshua and Rosette—" a gesture toward two blonde children, "—and her husband, Ewan."

"I'm May," said a dark haired girl. "This is Flora, my sister," she finished, pointing to a small four year old with auburn hair.

"Michael and Michaela—we're twins," piped up two ginger haired teens simultaneously.

"And I'm John," said a middle aged man with slightly graying hair.

"I'm Yugi. This is Anzu, and that's Ryou. We're going to get you guys out of here," said the short teen firmly.

"But what about our families?"

"_Don't worry about that,"_ came Seto's voice suddenly over the loud speaker. "_I'll notify them ASAP. Yugi, get them out. The mutt's group is below you, so they've already taken care of interference."_

"Thanks!"

A grunt. "_All right, I know that you all can hear me in this building, so listen up. If you're one of the ones with family members being held captive, they are free. You can go now. Raphael, Alister, I _know_ you two are listening. They moved Valon off of the twelfth floor; he's on the fifteenth currently. They won't move because I turned off the speakers on that particular floor, and the goons not on the fifteenth floor are now experiencing technical difficulties contacting them; I sealed all floors except for the one Valon's on. _Get going_."_

A clicking sound told them that Seto was no longer on the intercom.

"All right everyone, head this way!" said Anzu, directing everyone toward the exit.

"Wait! There are some more families upstairs! We have to help them!" cried Mary in alarm, a hand shooting to her swollen belly.

"...Anzu, focus on getting the women and children out of here. Michael, Ewan, and Jonathan, could you come with us?" asked Yugi firmly, he and Ryou moving forward.

"Aw heck no! I'm not leaving Michael alone!" snapped Michaela indignantly, moving to her brother's side.

The two boys barely nodded, and Yugi said, "Then come on ahead."

"B-But Yugi—!" cried Anzu in alarm.

"Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi are below us. They'll help you get these people out of here."

Yugi's tone told the brunette that he was not asking her.

"All right," she agreed reluctantly, moving over to assist Mary as the women, Frank, and the three children moved ahead. She turned back in time to see Yugi about to head out the door. "Yugi!"

He turned to look at her.

"Be careful..." she whispered softly.

Yugi flashed her a grin and a thumbs up before disappearing into the darkened doorway after his own group.

* * *

On the rooftop, chaos had ensued.

Black Magician quickly surged forward, his green eyes intent on his target as he sent forth a powerful energy spell. At the last second, the black serpent twisted out of the way and lashed out with its tail, catching the Pharaoh's servant squarely in the chest and knocking him backward into the air before blasting out a stream of dangerous venom.

From nowhere, one of Dartz's Mirror Knights intercepted the venom and instantly dissolved, causing the Atlantean to double over in pain. Seeing his chance, Akira called out, "Attack now!"

"I think not," said Bakura with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Diabound, annihilate him!" he continued, a blood-curdling laugh escaping his throat as Diabound grabbed the serpent by both ends of its body and began to pull. His intentions were quite obvious.

Atem went to Dartz's side and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Worry for yourself, Pharaoh—and for the tomb robber," he replied, gesturing vaguely towards the two intertwined monsters above them. The Leviathan had escaped Diabound's grip and was now crushing Bakura's monster in its coils.

"I-Is that...the best you got...you pansy...?" choked out Bakura with disgust in his eyes.

"Black Magician, defend Diabound!" cried Atem.

The Magician nodded once, aiming a blast for the Leviathan's head and firing it once it had gathered enough strength. The remaining three of Dartz's Mirror Knights moved fluidly as well, their swords fully extended. As a result, all attacks now combined and struck solidly.

The snake hissed and screeched in agony, releasing Diabound as it thrashed wildly. Akira doubled over, a small crimson trail coming from the corner of his mouth.

"Who said I wanted your help?" growled Bakura with obvious annoyance, turning his attention back to Akira.

The taller, raven haired man had a psychotic look in his golden eyes—one that quite rivaled even Yami Marik's when he had been dueling Atem. A small chuckle that soon escalated into full-blown maniacal laughter escaped his lips, the pupils contracting sharply.

"FOOLS! ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS ARE IN VAIN! I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY PURPOSE!" he shouted, his eyes full of a crazy light.

"Oh shut up," muttered Bakura, rolling his eyes.

"And what is your purpose, Akira? Why go to all the trouble to recreate the lost Millennium Items?" asked Atem coldly. Akira shot him a look of contempt.

"Do you honestly think I'll tell you, just as easy as that? No, you'll have to defeat me—something I will not allow!" said the older man, his Leviathan trying to ensnare the Black Magician. Thankfully, the servant of the Pharaoh managed to dodge its coils and flew down next to Atem.

The former Pharaoh of Egypt narrowed his amethyst eyes. "So be it," he said coldly.

The attacks resumed in the next moment.

* * *

_No more. I can' take any more..._

_It's all dark around me...'ow long have I been 'ere? I dunno...I feel like 'm kinda floatin'. I know 'm not s'posed t' be 'ere...but I don't 'ave any more energy t' go back t' the light... to resurface. 'm done...my spirit's broken...I jus' wanna die in peace...No more pain...please...let it all go away..._

_Someone's 'and takes mine in a warm, gentle grip, stoppin' my descent._

_"Valon! Please, you must hold on! Your friends have almost come!"_

_Mother Mary...I 'ear 'er voice callin' me, but it's like my eyes 're glued shut and it feels like my throat's been ripped out...I really can't...too tired...let me go back to sleep...I never wanna wake up again..._

_"Valon! VALON!"_

_Sorry, Mother...I can'...sorry, Raph...Alister...I can' go on any more...I tried..._

_I feel my 'and slip through 'ers and I start fallin' again..._

* * *

Seto typed as fast as he could, his cobalt eyes narrowed in concentration as he typed.

His injuries from the car accident were paining him, the pain medication having worn off a few moments earlier, but that was not deterring him at all. He was used to working through any kind of condition; Gozaburo had once made Seto compose an entire presentation on one of Kaiba Corporation's projects with a 104 degree fever.

Currently, he had no time to dwell on that thought, his focus centered entirely on finding incriminating documents and shutting off certain areas of security. Seto had hacked into the monitors earlier to figure out where everyone was; it was a bother that there was no camera on the roof, but he had spotted a whole group of thugs carrying what seemed to be a body onto the fifteenth floor.

Whether Valon was alive or not was hard to say.

Seto had made his little announcement and had logged off, returning to his previous task of locating incriminating documents to prove Akira's treacheries. So far, he had managed to locate and transfer a grand total of twenty documents. Normally that was good enough for most people...but he had only gone through fifty out of two thousand. He had a ways to go—and time was running out.

Mokuba had woken up and was currently sitting next to Noa, his eyes never leaving the computer screen. Seto sighed, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through his hair. He was not willing to admit it, but he was exhausted. The day's events had taken their toll on him, and he was feeling it.

"You okay...?" asked Noa, slightly wincing and putting a hand to his head. "You want me to take over?"

"No. I'm fine, Noa," replied Seto quietly, frowning when Noa held his head in his hands. "Are _you_ okay, though?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Noa shakily, but he suddenly let out a hiss of pain and his eyes closed.

Mokuba was watching his stepbrother with a worried look; Noa had doubled over in his seat by now and was clutching his head in apparent agony. "Noa?"

"It's just...a migraine...it'll pass..." groaned the aqua haired Kaiba brother.

Seto did not hesitate. He stood up, allowing for the sudden vertigo that was caused to pass before scooping Noa into his arms and striding to the sofa where Mokuba had been. Gently, he lay his stepbrother on it before moving to the sink. He wet a small washcloth and returned to Noa, placing it on Noa's forehead.

"Mokuba, keep an eye on him," he ordered, returning to the computer for a brief moment to grab his cell phone. He dialed Roland's number and waited almost impatiently for an answer.

_"Mr. Kaiba, I have informed the authorities and the hospital as you requested. They are already en route to your location."_

"Good. Are you near Kaiba Corporation?"

_"...Yes, I am."_

"Good. I want you to go to the main computer. I'm sending in a whole bunch of documents that I recovered from Akira's database. Make sure they get there."

_"Yes, sir! Anything else that needs to be done?"_

"No, Roland, I think that'll—"

"SETO!"

Seto dropped the phone out of shock, Mokuba's cry of alarm piercing the quiet of the room. The older teen whirled around to fight whatever it was that was a threat to his family. He had already allowed too much to happen to them, and he was not about to let it happen again.

But he was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes.

Mokuba had a knife placed against his throat, his blue-gray eyes wide with terror. His captor was using his uninjured arm to keep the knife in place, tight enough against the boy's pale throat to effectively gag Mokuba. His sapphire eyes, which matched his stepbrother's own, were filled with a dangerous light.

Noa.

"Surprise, surprise, Seto," chuckled Noa, a sadistic grin on his face. "I played you for the fool, didn't I? Since day one, I've been waiting for an opportunity to reveal my true intentions...and this whole mess with Akira is just the chance I have been looking for. I'll have to thank him for that."

Seto could only stare in disbelief.

"Come now...did you honestly think that I was reforming? Please," he scoffed. "Don't take me for a fool. It was so easy to get me into your good graces, and even easier for Mokuba to trust me. This is what you get, kiddo, for trusting an enemy," he said, addressing the last remark to the raven haired child in his grip.

"So...the migraine..."

"Faked. I had a lot of practice doing it beforehand, just for this moment."

"Seto...I'm sorry...he got up and got the knife from the counter, I didn't realize..." whimpered Mokuba pitifully, wincing as the blade pressed a thin red line into his neck. Seto growled but dared not move.

"Noa, what do you think you are doing?" Seto said in a shaky voice, hardly daring to believe it. The beginnings of an old anger stirred within him and he said in a stronger voice, "I trusted you...Mokuba trusted you...and for WHAT?" he shouted then, the anger almost breaking loose.

"For Kaiba Corporation, of course," replied Noa smoothly. "I was always able to utilize any and all weaknesses better than you. I have no qualms about slitting his throat—though I would rather not any more blood on my clothes. Now, be a dear and hang up the phone on the floor. Then go sit down over on that chair—away from the computer."

Seto growled in frustration, clenching his fists tightly, but there was really not that much he could do other than obey. He picked up the phone and said in a mechanical voice, "Roland, everything's fine. I'll call you later."

"_Mr. Kaiba!"_

He hung up and walked to the chair pointed out by Noa.

Seto could do nothing else.

* * *

Alister skidded to a halt in the hallway, his breathing coming in ragged gasps.

Both of the bikers had arrived on the fifteenth floor at last, fighting off the heavy resistance that they were encountering as they searched frantically for their comrade; Valon was here, and they both could feel it. But this floor, like all the others, was so much bigger than the lobby. The young Australian could be anywhere on it.

Dead or alive.

"We're running out of time," growled Alister as he took down a thug with a kick to the stomach. He heard Raphael hiss in pain as one man punched his injured shoulder and Alister moved to defend, his gray eyes narrowed. He pushed a pressure point on the back of the thug's neck and Raphael's assailant collapsed.

Raphael held his shoulder, a pained grimace on his face. "I'm fine," he said.

Alister moved Raphael's hand away and noted that there was a spreading dark stain on his shoulder. "Doesn't look like it. I think that your stitches ripped."

"Worry about it later," said Raphael, his eyes scanning the immediate area for any danger. "We have to find Valon."

Alister agreed, his own eyes troubled. Raphael was beginning to wear down; all Alister had were a few cuts and bruises. The older blonde had probably been roughed up more than the redhead while they had been held captive, but if the man wasn't going to bring up his condition, then he was content to let the matter alone—for now.

As he and Raphael walked down the hall, the redhead could not help but feel as if this was familiar...like this had happened before...oh, wait. It had.

Five or six months before this had all happened, all three of them had gone their separate ways for a short amount of time. Not one of them found any comfort in returning to their homelands—well, Valon hadn't exactly returned to Australia; he'd gone to Domino for some unexplained reason—nor in being alone.

As a result, all three had searched for each other. Alister had found Raphael in France, and they had found Valon fighting for his life in the abandoned warehouse that he had been calling home. Alister thought he had been worried before when he had been tending to the teen's injuries.

That situation paled in comparison to this one.

They were standing in front of a divider in the hallway, each path going in a different direction. Alister felt a wave of despair overcome him. Which way was the way to Valon?

"Raphael...what do we do if we find him and...he's dead?" asked Alister aloud in a quiet voice, breaking the silence first.

There was another long silence before Raphael responded. "He's not dead."

He didn't need to say anything further to tell Alister that what he said was spoken to reassure both of them. And Alister didn't mind it.

That was what he was telling himself, after all.

The sound of approaching footsteps came from behind them and Alister inwardly groaned. Not now...no more fighting...Valon was running out of time. They needed to find him, not waste time with Akira's hired men. They had been telling every thug that they had come across that their families were safe, but it seemed that this information only pertained to a small portion of them.

Raphael growled low in displeasure. He knew they were running out of time, as Alister did, and his shoulder ached with a vengeance. He could barely move it without cringing in pain, but that was the least of his worries. Every second that they spent defeating Akira's men was another second of Valon's life vanishing. He felt exhausted, overwhelmed, and utterly lost. They had to find him. They _had _to.

_Please, God...I know we aren't exactly the most perfect people in the world, but I'm begging You...help us find him...we can't afford to lose him._

Alister's whispered exclamation brought Raphael to attention immediately. The blonde looked to see what had caused it and he felt his eyes widen.

Sonia and Julien stood in front of their brother with sympathy alight in their eyes.

The last time Raphael had seen them was five months ago in France, when they had appeared to him shortly after Alister had found him. They had not only reassured Raphael of their love and forgiveness, they had told Raphael where Valon had been residing since they had last seen him.

The small children now moved simultaneously, taking a hold of Raphael's hand and pulling him forward. He could not feel their hands grasping his, but there was a warm and loving energy radiating off of them. They pulled their brother to the left pathway and stopped, looking up at the bikers.

"Are you showing us where he is?" asked Raphael softly, unsure if the words were spoken in French.

They nodded wordlessly and turned, running down the hall.

Without hesitation Raphael launched himself forward, Alister close behind him. The two biker's eyes never left the slightly glowing forms in front of them as they led them through a maze of pathways. Somewhere along the line, however, the two forms abruptly vanished, leaving Alister and Raphael in the middle of the hall.

"Where'd they go?" asked Alister aloud, his eyes looking for them.

Raphael had spotted a small movement from the corner of the wall, and he squinted, unsure if that was his younger siblings. He stepped forward and noticed that the form in front of him had copper-colored hair. He recognized the small child immediately and murmured quietly, "Alister."

The redhead looked over and stared at his younger brother.

"Miruko..."

Like Sonia and Julien, the child moved forward and took Alister's hand, gently guiding him to another hallway. Alister moved, gaining speed as the young child also began to run. He heard Raphael's footsteps next to him vaguely, but his entire attention was on his little brother's transparent figure.

Somewhere along the way, Sonia and Julien rejoined Miruko, so that the two older bikers were following three small figures as they wove in and out of the complicated passageways. Alister wondered briefly how they were going to find their way back out when the children in front of them suddenly stopped in front of a door.

All three looked up at their older siblings meaningfully, their eyes speaking louder than any words could, before fading away.

Alister and Raphael exchanged glances.

Valon was behind this door...their siblings would never deceive them. They knew that.

Bracing himself for whatever fight would lay behind the door, Raphael kicked it open and moved forward, his eyes alertly looking for any sign of danger. But he was surprised—and, admittedly, relieved—that there were no guards in here.

Raphael's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward into the room, observing his surroundings intently.

The room itself was in shambles, which was unusual, considering the fact it was in a multi-million dollar building. The table displayed playing cards and money in untidy piles, a few bottles of alcohol scattered on its surface and on the floor. The older man wrinkled his nose in distaste at the sight and advanced further into the room.

"Looks like we interrupted their poker game," said Alister quietly, his gray eyes also narrowed.

But Raphael's attention had gone to a single dirty sheet in the corner of the room.

It didn't look like much, and he would have passed over it altogether if he hadn't noticed the limp and bloodied arm sticking out of it.

His breathing hitched.

Slowly, he made his way toward the limp figure in the sheet, his heart beginning to beat almost painfully in his chest. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what was under the sheet, and he began to softly pray that at least the poor soul underneath was alive as he lifted the blanket off of the floor.

Raphael had thought he was ready for the sight that would meet his eyes when they found Valon; it would be foolish to hope that Valon had been unharmed during his 'stay' with Akira. He had known that Akira wanted information and that he would do anything for it.

As he stared at the form curled pitifully into a ball at his feet, he realized he truly hadn't been prepared.

The Australian teen's shirt and pants had been all but torn away, bloody rags sticking to the boy's pale and broken skin. Whatever part of Valon's torso was not covered in dried blood was mottled with bruises, lumps, and welts, the latter of which had been made with a whip. One of the teen's arms was bent at an awkward angle, and Raphael was horrified to discover that he could see the bone sticking out of the arm.

The boy's pale face had no color to it at all, and as Raphael gently took hold of the boy's bleeding shoulder he realized that Valon's body had no warmth to it...none at all.

"Valon..."

Alister had heard Raphael's constricted voice from the other side of the room where he had been exploring. He crossed the space in between them in three swift strides. The young man stopped when he saw Valon and swore softly under his breath. "...Is...Is he alive?" he asked at last, terrified of the answer.

Raphael was almost afraid to find out.

With a shaking hand, the blonde pressed a finger to the base of Valon's neck, desperately waiting for the gentle throb of the boy's heart. This had happened a long time ago...Valon had been curled up like this when they had found him months before. But the spunky Australian had been merely unconscious then.

This time, Valon was not going to wake up.

"I...I can't find his pulse..." said Raphael in a tortured whisper, raising his eyes to meet Alister's.

Alister drew in his breath sharply, sinking to the floor beside Raphael and mirroring what the older biker had done moments before. Maybe Raphael's own heartbeat was masking Valon's, or perhaps Valon's heart was beating so softly that no one could hear or feel it...

But after what felt like an eternity later, Alister withdrew his hand and let it drop to the floor.

"I can't, either." His voice was hollow.

Neither biker said anything aloud, their eyes fixed to the young, limp form of their friend. Neither of them could make themselves move, and neither was willing to accept the reality that was at hand. They had known that they could possibly find the boy dead, but they had been hoping against hope that it would not be the case.

Valon was gone. No amount of wishing or tears could change that terrible fact.

Oh, there was definitely anger registering in their minds. Dark thoughts would soon emerge, similar to the ones they experienced when the Orichalcos was manipulating their emotions and souls. Their thoughts would become revenge-oriented and they would stop at nothing to bring down Akira.

But those malignant thoughts and feelings had not emerged yet. The sound of their hearts breaking was drowning them out.

Raphael and Alister had both lost a brother for the second time in their lives because of the Orichalcos.

And, like before, they had been powerless to stop it from happening.


	13. Yami No Game

Seto eyed Noa warily from the chair he was sitting on.

So far, he had been struggling to comprehend what was running through his brother's head at the moment. He drew up a blank, frustration building. He had no idea what had happened to his stepbrother, nor did he know why it was that he was acting this way now.

But he needed to figure it out in a tearing hurry.

Noa had moved to the couch, Mokuba still held tightly in his grip. The ebony haired boy dared not say a word for fear of the sharp knife at his throat, but his eyes were plainly asking Seto for help. At the moment, he could not answer that plea—no, he dared not. One false move could result in his brother's death.

This thought was what fueled the question Seto had. It made little sense for Noa to suddenly revert back to his darker side—back in the cyberworld, Noa had actually fought to make Mokuba his brother. Why was he endangering him now?

There was something off about the whole situation, now that he was thinking about it. Noa had not shown any interest in Kaiba Corporation before today; his eyes had been honest when he had said that he held no more feelings about it. He had been clear that Seto could run it, so what had happened to change that opinion?

And there was something wrong with his motives and his plan. Noa would never have done something like this. This was all too hurried, too haphazard...it was almost as if he had thought of this on the fly...

The cell phone in his pocket vibrated, and Seto started violently.

"What's wrong, Seto? Afraid I might hurt your precious Mokie?" taunted Noa. "And I heard your phone just now...please, shut it off before I give the child a third way to breathe."

Seto noticed that he had a new text message from Anzu and he quietly opened it, shutting the cellular device off at the same time. His eyes locked briefly onto the message and they narrowed at the glowing words as they faded off the screen. He placed the phone on the floor and slid it carelessly across the room, remaining seated. He made sure Noa saw his every move. Straightening up, he locked eyes with the boy sitting in front of him, a dark scowl on his face.

"Oh, don't look like that, Seto," sneered Noa. "You can surely miss one boring meeting, can't you?"

But Noa had misread his stepbrother's expression.

Seto had long ago learned that tardiness was unacceptable in the business world, and so was going at a snail's pace; the people he dealt with had other places they needed to go to, and he himself did not prefer wasting precious time. As a result, he had mastered the art of speed reading—he could read a forty page contract in less than five minutes. Combined with his photographic memory, this skill was sharply enhanced.

So reading a four word text message while the phone was shutting off was child's play.

And what he had just read was causing the sour expression on his face.

"Noa," he said in a would-be calm voice. "I have a simple question for you."

His brother's captor leered at him. "Oh yeah? And what that might be, Seto? Mind, if it's stupid I will be forced to cut Mokuba's throat...and we don't want that, do we?"

"No, we don't," said the brunette in a curt tone.

"So then. What might your inquiry be?"

Seto sighed before locking eyes with his stepbrother. "Who are you really?"

There was a moment of stunned silence, during which Noa's face drained of color and Mokuba's furrowed in confusion. Seto leaned back calmly, sending his brother a silent message to wait for his signal. He knew that Noa's facial expression confirmed the message he had been sent, and he had already begun to formulate a plan.

Mokuba nodded, stopping when Noa managed to growl, "I haven't an idea what you're—!"

There was a roar, so similar to the dragons that represented him that both Noa and Mokuba jumped.

"_WHERE IS THE REAL NOA KAIBA?!"_

* * *

"Anzu, you think he got the message?"

"Yeah, I'm positive, Jou."

The two teens lingered outside, the happy cries of the families that were reunited with their loved ones ringing loudly in their ears. It so turned happened that out of Akira's entire work force, there were only five people that belonged with the joyful people around them. They had not been involved in any of Akira's grisly jobs (such as the soul-stealing; Akira had not trusted them with that task, so they had been used as patrol men), but they did know of what had transpired since their 'employment began', though some details remained in obscurity. And the story they had listened to horrified them.

They had also learned, much to their shock, that Noa Kaiba was not really with Seto, but somewhere in the building.

"Plan 14 was designed to replace one of you people with a spy, but it wasn't executed until Akira managed to capture the real Noa," said one of the men, shame gracing his features. "He knew that one of you would be left alone eventually, so he took a chance and caught the younger Kaiba brothers off guard. By the time the mystery man had shown up, the fake Noa was in place."

"But Noa didn't act like that when we found him...he seemed genuine..." said Jounouchi with a frown.

The man shook his head. "Akira used the last of the Millennium Rod's power on the imposter to make it look as if Noa truly was there in the room, even going as far as inserting thoughts he knew Noa was thinking."

"How could he have done that?" asked Anzu in bewilderment.

The man shrugged helplessly. "I am not so sure myself."

Anzu had been feeling off-color the entire day. One of her supposedly dead friends had returned from beyond the grave, Raphael had shown up injured and weak, the whole business with the Orichalcos, worry for Valon and all of her friends...she had not been able to handle that much all in one shot. But now, she had gotten her second wind.

And Heaven help the one who got in her way at this moment in time.

She looked up at the darkening skies above them, her face utterly composed. She had a vague suspicion as to why Yugi had insisted she go with the families—he did not want her to get hurt or captured. But now, she had Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi with her. And although concern for Kaiba was registering in her mind, a strange feeling of calm drowned it out. Somehow, she knew that both Seto and Mokuba were all right.

"Jounouchi." Her voice was strangely calm.

"Uh."

"I think we need to get up there."

"...think you're right."

"Honda, Otogi!" Anzu called, and the two boys lifted their heads. "We need to go."

They both froze, and a few seconds later identical grins lit their faces. "High time! Lead the way, Anzu!" cried Honda, turning to head back into the building. Otogi followed after, and then Jounouchi. Anzu turned to the small crowd there and asked, "Do you all think you will be all right by yourselves?"

There was a thumbs up from one of the former members of Akira's group. "Go on, miss. We've got it from here."

Without a second thought, she hurried after her friends.

* * *

Yugi and Ryou, meanwhile, had run into a spot of trouble on the eleventh floor.

They had met with rather heavy resistance that was strict and unyielding. They were having difficulties reaching the stairways as well; the security firewall Seto had set up had worn off by now, and the thugs were pouring out of the rooms like angry bees. They were barely able to advance, for they had to duck into any empty doorway whenever a guard was encountered.

The other people who had gone with them had stayed behind to fend off and distract any of the goons that had been pursuing them; Ryou and Yugi had instructed them to leave the building once they had lost their pursuit. They knew from experience that it was never a wise thing to remain in an evil villain's lair.

One never knew when it might get blown sky high.

They ducked into yet another doorway and paused to catch their breath, leaning against the wall and panting. "What...floor...are...they on...?" Ryou asked in between gasps, his face flushed.

Yugi shook his head and replied in a breathless voice, "I'm not...sure...I think they...are on the roof..."

"Get 'em!" cried several voices at once. Yugi groaned as he and Ryou took off again, ducking under the extended arm that was intended to stop them.

"How many guards _are_ there?!" he yelled, looking over his shoulder to check on their pursuer's position.

Ryou shook his head and replied, "Too many!"

The two of them rounded the corner and promptly collided with someone on the other side of it. Ryou let out a cry of surprise as he hit the floor and Yugi fell on top of the stranger they had run into. Another yelp—a familiar one—rent the air as the newcomer fell on his wrist, the cast making a dull _thunk_ as it hit the floor.

The three of them lay there for a moment, dazed and unable to move. The sound of approaching footsteps rousted Yugi, and he sat up with a groan. "Ryou, are you all right?"

"Yes," came the shaky reply as Ryou slowly got to his feet, taking Yugi's offered hand and pulling the shorter boy up. The spiky haired teen glanced down at the figure that had cushioned his fall and gasped. Hurriedly, he helped the aquamarine haired figure sit up and murmured an apology.

"Don't worry too much about it," replied Noa with a wan smile. "I already have a splitting headache—you're in the clear."

"How did you get here?!" asked Yugi in a hushed whisper. Ryou had a disbelieving look on his face, astonishment shining in his chocolate eyes.

All three of them heard the guards behind them, though, and Noa shook his head. He pointed to the doorway behind them and opened the door quietly. They slipped through it and eased the door shut, locking it behind them before moving out of sight of the door. Yugi asked his question again and Noa bit back a laugh.

"Akira must have a thing for me," he announced flatly, keeping his voice low. "He's knocked me out three or four...hold on, five...I lost count, he's done it so many times. He's brainwashed me, kidnapped me and replaced me with my evil twin, and he was constantly bragging about how ingenious of a plan he has, how _brilliant_ he is, blah, blah, blah. I think I have this nut wrapped around my finger. It's a shame he wasn't paying too much attention to me."

"Oh?" asked Ryou.

"Yeah. He was silly enough to leave me in the same room—alone—with an open ventilation grate. The one time I'm actually grateful for my height," he muttered irritably.

Yugi felt a grin creeping onto his face, despite the gravity of the situation. Noa was definitely all right if he was cracking jokes. Ryou also had a similar look on his face, his face lit up by a smile.

"But what about you?" asked Noa softly. "What's happened since I 'left'?"

Yugi and Ryou wasted no time in explaining (albeit in hushed whispers) what had happened over the course of the past few hours. During that time, Noa's face darkened and his cobalt eyes narrowed dangerously; if it weren't for the fact that he was distinctly shorter and had green hair, Yugi could swear he was looking at Seto Kaiba.

"Why that no-good, low life, scum sucking....!" he growled under his breath after the other two finished explaining. "He's gonna be hearing from my lawyer, let me tell you. Actually, scratch that. He'll be lucky if he makes it to the court."

Yugi nodded grimly, carefully peering at the door. "I think they're gone. Noa, does Kaiba know that you're here?"

"No, but I'll bet you anything that he does now. I heard one of the guards talking about it; he said that Seto is in a spot of trouble. We need to get to him—actually, no, scratch that. I need to get to him."

"Noa, your wrist..."

"Who cares? I can use my cast as a club."

"But, Noa, you can't go alone. You're going to need help...maybe Raphael and Alister are nearby and can get you to them. They probably are—Ryou, what is it?"

During the course of Yugi and Noa's conversation, Ryou had been observing his surroundings. As his eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the room, his face had begun to lose color until his face was almost as white as his hair. At the sound of his name, Ryou started violently and swallowed hard.

"Yugi...what is all this...?"

Yugi blinked, beginning to look around as well. As his own eyes began to take in the room, he too went pale and his eyes widened. Slowly, as if he was in a trance, he rose to his feet and looked around the room. He visibly trembled, barely acknowledging Noa's curious and concerned voice in the background.

All around them, on the walls, on the ceiling, underneath their feet...stone tablets decorated and adorned the surfaces. On each of these tablets was the image of a human being; some were kneeling, others were standing still. But most of them had their hands open, as if pushing against some invisible barrier that was holding them captive there. All of them bore terrified looks on their faces, save for only a couple of people.

"Yugi? Yugi what is it? What _is _all this?" asked Noa impatiently.

The answer came a few moments later, in a strangled and horrified whisper.

"The fallen souls captured by the Orichalcos."

* * *

While everything else below them had been going on, the occupants of the rooftop had been duking it out.

Not one of the four battlers was unscathed.

Diabound bore multiple wounds of varying severity across its chest, causing its master to clutch his own chest from the pain and be nearly doubled over. But, Bakura being who he was, crossly refused to admit that he was hurt.

The Black Magician's right leg was so severely injured that the mage had resorted to floating to keep his weight off of it. While the purple-clad mage had the ability to defy gravity, Atem could not, so he was forced to remain standing. He was currently gripping the rail around the edge in an attempt to have some of the pain eased away.

Akira's Leviathan had been dealt minimal damage, despite most efforts, but that did not mean they had not managed to cause Akira trouble. Bakura's attempt to rip it in half had done something to the treacherous man's back, causing him to be hunched over. One of the Mirror Knights had driven its sword into the serpent's eye; Akira' corresponding eye had a hand covering it.

Of all of the combatants, however, Dartz was the worst off.

Only one of his Mirror Knights remained, causing the Atlantean's breathing to become labored and his eyes glassy from the pain of it all. He had gone a ghastly shade of pale, and he was swaying violently; he was about ready to collapse and never get up again. He was on his feet and refusing to lean against anything, which was a good sign, but it was obvious that he fighting to keep his ground.

Currently, the battle had reached a stand-still, neither side attacking.

Atem threw a glance at his comrades, taking in each of their conditions. He chose to make sure Dartz was still with them; he knew full and well Bakura would resent Atem's concern. He called the older man's name and the Atlantean looked up at him, wheezing.

"Ignore me...focus on Akira..." Dartz muttered, holding a hand to his side.

"Whatever you say," retorted Bakura with rolled eyes.

Atem then looked over at Bakura and asked, "Are you all right?" Bakura muttered an Egyptian curse but said nothing else, pointedly ignoring the Pharaoh's question.

Atem decided that it meant he was perfectly fine.

"Are you all worn out yet?" came Akira's taunting voice from across the roof, and all three looked up at the evil man. "I'm not."

"Good for you. You get a prize," snapped Bakura irritably.

"Why are you doing this?" Atem asked aloud, his violet eyes narrowed. There had to be a reason, and he was determined to find out just what it was; he wanted to know now. "Akira, do you realize the gravity of what you are doing? You're destroying innocent lives to recreate mere objects!"

Akira looked at him disbelievingly before beginning to laugh. "Are you that dense, Pharaoh?! Those 'objects' you refer to so lightly are the key to what I have in store for this world!"

"And what would that be? What is it you desire that would make you go to these lengths to accomplish?!" snarled Atem.

"Do you think that by asking me that I'll—?!"

"_I wasn't asking you_."

Akira blinked in surprise, silent for a moment before regaining his composure. "Very well, Pharaoh. Let me explain just what it is I am hoping to accomplish," he said at last.

"When I was a child, I was alone," he began with a dramatic flourish. "My parents always traveled to various locations throughout the world because of archaeology. Needless to say, I rarely came in contact with children my age—I never stayed in any one location for very long, thanks to dear old Mum and Dad. And they were so caught up in their precious research that they barely remembered that they had a son."

"Great, yet another case of child neglect. You got ignored by Mommy and Daddy, so you're going to take it out on the whole world. Oh, that's just bloody _brilliant_. Why didn't _I_ think of that?" said Bakura sardonically, hitting his forehead with an open palm. "I am _such _an idiot!"

Atem couldn't help smiling; Bakura was striking a fair point—not to mention that the tomb-robber's blatant uncaring voice did help take away Akira's thunder. Dartz also looked amused, though his expression swiftly changed back to a pained one.

Akira's eyes narrowed. "I've had just about enough of you," he said in a dangerously calm voice.

Shadows suddenly twisted from behind the tomb raider and wrapped themselves around his ankles, arms, and mouth. Bakura let out an indignant and muffled cry as he struggled to keep his balance. His attempts failed and he fell backward against Dartz. The much older man, already weakened, was unable to stay standing, and the two of them crashed to the ground.

"Bakura! Dartz!" cried Atem in alarm.

"Ahh, much better. Now, back to what I was saying," said Akira. "Oh, and don't fret about him, Pharaoh. Bakura just needs to be silenced while the adults talk."

Bakura let out a muffled growl of displeasure from his new position on the ground.

"Now, where were we...oh, right. My parents. Such a mundane subject...

"Because of their lack of attention, I had little to do by myself. So, I began reading their research—starting with ancient Egyptian history. Although it was slow going at first, I soon was enraptured by the story of a nameless Pharaoh who prevented the world from plunging into eternal darkness. But there was so little information beyond what my parents had—so I began to delve deeper. I read the entire collection of ancient time-oriented manuscripts that my parents possessed. They always thought that I wanted to step into their shoes, so they dismissed the thought and left me alone.

"Over and over again, I kept bumping into terminology I did not quite understand—what was Ka? What were the mysterious 'Items' that the Pharaoh and his council wielded? What was the Pharaoh's name? And just what on earth were Shadow Games? I just had to find out. There was a slight problem with that, though. I could not seem to find any information beyond my parent's research that would tell me this. For the moment, I had reached a dead end."

"And while you waited for advances in that area, you delved into the history of Atlantis," assumed Dartz quietly, getting slowly to his feet after sitting Bakura up.

"Correct—for not having much to go on, my parents certainly possessed an inordinate amount of research detailing the fall of Atlantis. This is how I learned of the Orichalcos, by the way."

"Eventually, there was a change. Otherwise, we would not be having this conversation," said Atem flatly. Akira clapped in mock delight.

"When I turned seventeen, my parents made their most brilliant discovery—a certain nameless Pharaoh's tomb—you, in other words. Inside the crypt was an ancient scroll that replied to my previously unanswered questions. It was a very detailed account, written by several authors and compiled by your successor into one masterpiece."

Atem's eyes narrowed.

"Along with all the missing pieces of my puzzle," continued Akira, "there was an instruction manual, if you could call it that, of how to create the Millennium Items. And I suddenly had a brilliant idea—why not recreate them? Of course, to do that I would have to destroy the previous ones. That required the Orichalcos, a power that could corrupt another."

"So you killed your parents, took their research—"

"Ah-ah. My parents and their team merely died because of the _Mummy's Curse_; tell any Egyptian authority that the people involved in any major accidents happened to unearth an Egyptian tomb and they dismiss it immediately. They certainly value privacy."

"How did you find out about DOOM?" asked Atem, but it was Dartz who answered his question.

"I found him," the Atlantean said simply. "He wanted to join, but only to harness the power the Orichalcos offered, as I discovered later on. He tried to segregate the souls he stole and create the Millennium Items within my own walls, not to mention he also plotted to take my own soul. For that, he was expelled. At the time, I might have taken his soul and ended this nonsense before it happened...but he escaped before I could."

"Yes, yes I know. I was foolish to not guard my plan better," Akira sighed heavily, looking to the dark heavens above them. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Atem, you do remember our chat on the hospital roof, don't you?"

Atem nodded grimly.

"Remember my topic of limited staff? I did mention that I would hold back some information. Now, I will tell you the rest.

"Once Dartz kicked me out, I pretty much remained inactive, reading and re-reading my parent's research to see what I could do. Meanwhile, I had my spy bring me Orichalcos stones, one at a time, so that I could conduct my own experiments. Of course, it was painstakingly slow to gather ninety-nine souls with only one man doing the work, and even then my efforts came to nothing."

Atem heard Akira's words and felt the color leave his face. "Akira...are you telling me...?"

"Unfortunately, the first time I tried to create the Millennium Items was a failure; with the originals still on the loose and their hosts still alive, my Items did nothing but feebly twitch—figuratively speaking. I needed to be certain of my theory, of course, so I tried it three more times. Once to destroy my copies, and the other two used as a comparison to prove my theory."

Even Bakura looked horrified.

"How come...How come no one noticed this?" asked Dartz, utterly flabbergasted. "Surely they would have noticed nearly four hundred people die without cause or reason."

"Ah, you hit the point of the problem—I needed a steady supply. Each experiment I performed needed a year to gather souls, even with staff on hand—and here's why. As you pointed out, making sure that I got my necessary amount of souls with no one paying attention was difficult. But then it came to me. An epiphany, if you will.

"Why not use the homeless population?"

Atem's next question came out in a strangled whisper. "You...you stole the souls...of the homeless...?"

"Mainly the elderly or children, and never in the same location; I've had people from as far away as Alaska to right here in Domino lose their souls. And at this time I had gained a few more hands working for me, though some required that I move their families to my personal quarters. All I had to do was have my men steal two to three souls a week, then go to whatever hospital they were taken to—if someone found them—and...dispatch them."

Bakura struggled violently, wrenching his mouth free of the dark band around it. "LET ME GO!" he screamed, uncharacteristically letting loose with his emotions. "RELEASE ME RIGHT NOW!! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF AND MAKE SURE AMNIT FEASTS ON YOUR PITIFUL REMAINS!! YOU WILL ROT IN THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL, WITH NO COMPANY BUT ANUBIS!! I'LL MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

"Be silent, grave robber," growled Akira warningly. "No one cares for those people any more than you do."

"SHUT UP!! YOU JUST SHUT UP!!" snarled Bakura venomously, his voice cracking slightly.

Atem understood why this was bothering Bakura so much. His entire village had been wiped out for the same reason that Akira had stated: because no one cared for the population within its boundaries. If they were gone, the world would be better off.

Such had been the reasoning of the High Priest Akhenaden, when he had created the Items with the blood of Bakura's home.

The silver-haired thief looked at Atem and snarled fiercely, "Pharaoh, don't you _dare_ lose to him. If you fail in this task, I will _never_ forgive you for the loss of those people's lives. DO YOU HEAR ME?! _NEVER!!_"

"Technically, thief, you are also to blame," said Akira smugly.

Bakura only snarled and twisted violently in his restraints.

"Why...?" asked Dartz after a moment of silence, his eyes boring into Akira's. "Why go to such lengths?"

"Look who's talking, Master Dartz," said Akira casually. The older man stiffened. "You stole souls for ten thousand years on a doomed quest to purify the world. My motive is no different."

"And what is your motive?" responded Bakura coldly.

"I want to see the Shadow Games in action. Moreover...I want the power granted to the High Priest Akhenaden by the one they called, 'the Bringer of Eternal Darkness.' And another, though less formal, reason is that I was simply bored. The Games of Darkness sounded like something fun to do."

"How many souls do you have currently?" asked Atem softly, no longer looking at Akira.

"Right now, including the one I just got over an hour ago, ninety six more souls," Akira replied, ignoring the suddenly alarmed looks on their faces. "All I need is your soul, as well as the tomb raider behind you and Dartz. But it seems that I may have to use them just to destroy the Items. Ahh, well...after this, it's right back to square one. It'll be the fifth time I have done this—one more time wouldn't hurt. And I'll start this time with all your little friends...Yugi will be my first."

_Snap._

The sound was not audible to human ears, but if it could be given a voice it would have sounded like a gunshot. Atem closed his eyes, and felt something he had not experienced since his early days as Yugi's other half. Oh, he had had these emotions before, while under the influence of the Orichalcos. But they had been diluted, undefined, and vague. There had not been any true emotion there—only a ruthless and reckless anger. But this...this was different.

For the first time since he had awoken from his five thousand year slumber, Atem felt true, unbridled rage.

A quiet chuckle escaped his lips.

"What's so funny, Pharaoh?" asked Akira, his voice holding the beginnings of a taunt. It died, however, when he locked eyes with Atem.

Atem no longer was leaning on the guardrail for support, and was standing tall. The Third Eye shone bright on his forehead, shadowing his face in a fearful way. His violet eyes had turned a deep, blood-red crimson, full of a sinister light. The very posture he had was different—ominous yet regal, an air of reckless abandon surrounding him. A dangerous, twisted smirk was on his face.

"Akira." The voice that spoke was brimming with disgust and hatred, yet full of rich power and authority. "You wanted to play a Shadow Game."

"Yes...yes I did."

"Then let's begin."

"Begin what, Pharaoh?" asked Akira, a tiny bit of fear creeping into his voice for the first time since they had begun their battle.

Atem's eyes glinted dangerously. His next words were spoken in a soft but chilling voice.

"Yami no Game—the Game of Shadows."


	14. Shadows Rising

He thought he had known what the Pharaoh was thinking.

Akira had been fully prepared for this encounter on the roof; it had taken him months to finish preparations, and years to make so much progress in his organization. He had known what the possible consequences would be—he had taken nearly four hundred people's lives for this reason. And it was true; at first, he had not realized that after his victim's souls were taken they would die without proper life support. When he had, he had been reluctant to keep on harvesting the souls. Although ambitious, he certainly did not want that much blood on his hands.

Then, one night, it abruptly changed.

Without logical thought or reasoning, he suddenly lost his squeamishness and his fear. Akira did not know why or how it had happened—it just had. He then took multiple lives without a care in the world, thinking that there would be no one to stop him. He hardly cared about what would happen should his plan backfire. Akira had just simply not cared at all about what he was doing, now that he thought about it. No one could stop him—no one was powerful enough to do it.

When he had found out that the Spirit of the Puzzle had returned, he had initially been afraid that all of his hard work was going to be sent down the drain. But after witnessing the Pharaoh's hesitant and weak behavior on the roof, Akira had thought that his plan would proceed without a hitch; the Egyptian ruler had gone soft since his reign five thousand years ago.

Looking at the menacing figure standing on the other side of the roof, he realized that this assumption was false.

Akira had been an idiot to think that his actions would not have violent repercussions.

* * *

A pair of violet eyes widened and their owner sank to his knees with a gasp.

"Yugi!" yelled Noa in alarm, hurrying to the shorter boy and clutching his shoulder with his good hand. Ryou also went to his friend's side, brown eyes worried.

"Yugi, what is it?! What's happened?!" asked Ryou. "Yugi, answer us!"

They had long since moved on from the Room of Souls and were now on the fifteenth floor; progress had been made easier because all the hired musclemen after the eleventh floor had been all knocked out. Noa suspected it had something to do with that tall blonde man and the redhead (was that person a girl or a boy?) but that thought had been pushed away when Yugi had collapsed without warning.

The teen was visibly trembling, his breathing coming in quick, ragged pants. His eyes had glazed over, a panicked look on his face; one of his hands was gripping his chest in pain. "Hurts…it hurts…" he said, his words coming out in a whimper.

"What does?! Yugi, _blast it_, answer us!" replied Noa in a frightened voice, slightly shaking him.

"Something's…wrong…something's not…right…Atem…"

"What about Atem?" asked Ryou, forcing his voice to remain level. Panicking would get them nowhere…if they remained calm, maybe they could figure out what was happening. And if Yugi was feeling this kind of pain, what did it mean for Bakura? Ryou needed to find out what was going on, and to do that he needed his shorter friend to tell them.

Yugi looked up at his companions with alarm in his dull eyes. "Something's happened to Atem…We have to hurry…!"

The boy painfully rose to his feet and tottered forward a few steps before his legs crumpled beneath him. Ryou managed to catch the other teen before he fell and hurt himself, carefully sitting him back down. "Yugi, rest for a bit before you go. I'm sure that the others are already on their way here—take a break."

"But…"

"You aren't in any condition to go anywhere, Yugi. Stay put for a bit," replied Ryou firmly, placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder and keeping him still. "Atem wouldn't want you to get hurt, and it won't help us any if you injure yourself worse."

"But what's hurting him, Ryou?! What is going on here?!" asked Noa impatiently.

Ryou opened his mouth to reply, but that was when he felt _it_.

An alien pressure had settled over his body, and it felt like a heavy, suffocating blanket was covering him, smothering his lungs and compressing his chest. It was as if someone was lightly squeezing his heart. His pulse skipped a beat and he drew in a breath sharply. And it was then he realized just exactly what it was he was feeling.

Ryou had vague memories of this phantom pain; whenever it had come, he had not been in control of his body, so his memories of those times were dim and faded. But he did remember what it caused this unearthly feeling, and he also knew that this was only a fraction of what Yugi was going through. The only reason Ryou was feeling this at all was because Bakura was with Atem.

There could only be one explanation for what was happening.

A Shadow Game was in progress.

And Atem was the one who had initiated it.

* * *

"Pharaoh…" said Dartz softly in a warning tone, not liking the direction this had taken.

It had been building up all evening. Dartz had seen the warning signs of this outburst coming since this whole mess had begun; the start of it had been on the hospital roof, and the tension, anger, and wrath had collected into one solid mass. Now the Pharaoh had snapped altogether—and Dartz had no idea what the outcome would be.

Bakura growled under his breath in Egyptian, his eyes locked on the Pharaoh. "That fool…"

Dartz thought he was referring to the other Egyptian, but he was proven wrong when Bakura continued in a dark tone, "Akira has no idea what he's just done."

The white haired tomb robber looked up at Dartz and announced flatly, "Don't interfere with this battle, Pops. You interrupt a Shadow Game and there will be dire consequences for you. Believe me, I know what I am talking about…I have started more than one of these."

Dartz eyed the young man at his feet with a frown. "You knew what I was thinking?"

"The look on your face gave it away, old man."

"Will he lose control of his senses, Tomb Robber?" asked Dartz, ignoring the comment directed at his age.

"…The real question you're asking is 'will he kill Akira?' I have no honest answer to that," said Bakura slowly, his face bearing a dark look on it. "I never saw what happened to him when he was the one initiating the Shadow Game; he was always on the receiving end when I was playing him."

Dartz looked away from the white haired teen on the ground and his gaze went back to Atem. He himself knew what happened when one dealt with dark magic—he had been a helpless victim of a corrupting power for millennia. He understood the consequences of such a thing.

But it was one thing to be deluded by a dark power and perform actions otherwise unthought of while under its influence.

It was an altogether different matter to be the source of that power.

Now, this battle was all up to chance. The Pharaoh's thoughts had become too difficult to read and his intentions were unclear; Dartz was unable to tell if the shorter young man had truly snapped or if the Pharaoh was still in control of his thoughts. But there was definitely one thing clear that Dartz could see.

Win or lose, Atem was going to end it now.

* * *

"Yami no Game? What will it be?" asked Akira, licking his lips nervously.

Atem smiled, but to those who looked at him it was more of a devilish smirk than that of a smile. It seemed to him that the previously confident man in front of him had lost his courage in the wake of the Pharaoh's fury. But what to do, what to do…so many choices to make, so much potential…Ahh. Yes…_that_ would work splendidly. He had the perfect game that they could play…oh yes, this would be fun.

"You seem to like being in control of things, Akira. Not to mention you also cherish the idea of power and knowledge—so our game must be moved to a different field," he said in a very calm voice. The undercurrent of his power, however, carried right through the so-called peaceful demeanor of the tri-color haired figure.

At his words, more shadows swirled around the two of them, forming a dense cloud in the space between them; the black bindings around Bakura also joined the mass in the air above them. They hovered in air, practically quivering as they waiting for their master's will to be exercised. Atem raised a hand calmly and the shadows descended eagerly, erecting walls and twisting in every direction.

Some of the darkness extended to Dartz and Bakura, circling the pair and solidifying underneath their feet. It slowly rose into the air, forming pillars and keeping the two people on it above the field below them. Bakura rose to his feet, rubbing at his arms where the rope had been moments before as he wandered to the edge. His eyes lit up slightly when he saw what Atem had done.

"For once, you have done something right…" he murmured.

The rooftop had been transformed into a twisting and complicated structure of varying pathways, some ending at dead ends and others continuing on to another passage way. On some of these walls were Egyptian hieroglyphs that seemed to smolder with a suppressed glow. The top of the maze was covered by a dark, swirling mist; every now and then, it would clear up in a spot and allow a brief glimpse into the maze below. In the middle of all this was the Eye of Horus, the center of it glowing with an ominous light. Atem stood at the entrance way to one path; Akira was positioned in front of another.

"This is how the game will be played, Akira," said Atem, his voice carrying loud and clear across the rooftop and up to the two spectators. "Both of us will enter the Maze of Darkness. There are seven stone tablets on the wall of the maze, containing monsters within them. They will come out and attack you. Each monster, based on its attribute, has a different word that returns them to the tablet and brings no harm to you. If you get the word wrong, then it attacks you. Get it right, and the monster attacks the other directly, without pause. The one who is hit by the most monsters loses."

"How do you win?"

"Get to the center before I do, Akira. Accomplish that, and you gain my soul and the Millennium Puzzle as your prize. But bear in mind that if you leave the boundaries of the maze at any time you will be subjected to a Penalty Game," warned Atem grimly. "So, do you accept?"

"Of course I do."

Atem merely smiled in reply, his very being exuding confidence as he entered the maze boldly. Akira also entered after a moment of hesitation, his cloak blowing in the wind. As the two of them entered, their Ka vanished and the raven haired man jolted. "What happened to my Leviathan?!"

"You do not require it for this maze. This is a battle that needs to be done with your own power, Akira…or is that something you do not possess? Perhaps you yourself lack real power and make up for it by hiding behind dark magic."

The reply was spoken in a normal tone of voice, but the underlying taunt was still recognizable. Akira's golden eyes narrowed darkly and he offered no further comment, silenced by Atem's words. The Pharaoh smirked in satisfaction.

It had begun.

* * *

He weighed so little…funny, really.

One might expect that someone like this limp and silent boy in his arms to weigh much more than this; his build suggested that entirely. But then, he had always been short for his age—and he had been starved for nigh unto two weeks, so he actually weighed less than he really did.

The usually fluffy brown hair drooped but was not limp, still defying gravity even though...even after everything its owner had been through. Blood matted it here and there, but at least there was no more of the crimson liquid on his person. Both he and Alister had cleaned it off as best as they could, treating the injuries and even making a splint for the broken arm.

Not that any of it would do any good.

It was a hard concept to grasp…this poor, unmoving teenager that had once been full of life was never going to move again. His wounded shoulder burned and ached dully from the weight, protesting from the stress it was being put through, but the older man barely recognized it.

Raphael was too far gone.

He and Alister were already on the tenth floor, deciding to get Valon outside before anything else happened to them. They were actually going at a quick pace, but to the blonde it seemed as if time itself had slowed down; his movements were sluggish and he was having difficulty processing any information coming his way. All of his wounds ached in protest because of the weight he was carrying in his arms, but Raphael ignored it all.

He had long ago stopped looking at Valon's…at Valon as he walked. He had nearly stumbled and fallen down the stairs at one point because he had kept glancing down, so he no longer took his eyes off of the path in front of him. It would not be right if he fell with the Australian teen in his arms, so he forced himself not to glance down at him.

They had both discovered their personal belongings near Valon's motionless body, Alister's eyes darkening murderously as he cleaned off the crimson substance—_paint_, of all things—from Miruko's shattered toy.

"Akira did this, didn't he? To try and break Valon's spirit..." he had asked, though he knew the answer to the statement. Raphael had nodded in reply, his throat too constricted to allow speech. That had certainly sounded like Akira's doing, all right.

He just wished that it wasn't.

Alister had also removed his duster earlier to wrap around Valon's pitifully clad frame—although there was enough of the teen's clothes left for decency's sake, they could not bear to look at their friend's mangled body; seeing what it had been put through only hurt them worse. And there had been a faint but fruitless hope that perhaps the boy was not dead. Raphael could not help but hope along with Alister, though he was not going to try and lie to himself.

When he had been trapped on the deserted island, he had initially kept up a faint hope that his family had survived the shipwreck and were searching for him tirelessly. But time wore on, and in order to survive Raphael was forced to admit that his entire family was dead. They would not ever come back and get him. This case was no different—the faster he accepted Valon's death, the better off everyone concerned would be.

But that did not mean that he was not allowed to grieve.

Alister silently walked alongside the older biker, his thoughts similar in structure to those of his older friend.

The redhead should not have carried that much hope inside of him to begin with; how many other times had he hoped for a miracle only to be disappointed in the end? He knew, deep down, that the spunky brunette had not survived. But he had refused to acknowledge that fact, ignoring its gentle prodding at his mind. To give up on someone when they were in a near-death state was condemning them. And Alister did not want to have to face the truth when the time came.

_Why is it always the people I care about who have to die? Do I lead a cursed life?_ Alister wondered miserably, his eyes burning. He lifted a hand to rub at them, hoping to ease the ache. His hand came away with moisture on his fingertips.

Tears.

He was crying.

Alister inhaled shakily, wiping them away with his left hand. The last thing he wanted to do was to let Raphael see him cry; the older man was going to need all of Alister's support that he could get, and the redhead could not allow for this moment of weakness.

Stealing a glance at Raphael, however, proved that the blonde was undergoing a similar struggle.

"Do you…" Alister's throat constricted for a moment, making speech difficult. He cleared his throat and tried again to speak. "Do you want me…to take him for a bit?"

Raphael started at the younger man's voice, but wordlessly handed the teen in his arms over to Alister. When he was absolutely certain that the redhead was no longer looking at him, he also rubbed vigorously at his eyes. Something slipped down his cheek and Raphael's hand stopped the crystalline drop before it could travel all the way down his face.

Despite their best efforts, the two of them could not hide their grief.

Minutes later, they no longer bothered to.

* * *

The man disguising himself as Noa Kaiba had done many similar jobs such as this one. All of them had been highly successful; one of his more infamous jobs had him masquerading as the young son of the Russian prime minister for a good three months, before assassinating the man and disappearing into the night. The only reason that many did not hire him was the fact that his height was a huge disadvantage; his strengths lay in disguise and stealth.

When Akira had initially approached him about impersonating either Mokuba or Noa Kaiba, he had signed on immediately. He had once been in the employ of Gozaburo Kaiba, and he had been waiting for years to revenge himself on the elder Kaiba. Up until tonight, he had been mostly inactive, itching for his chance and impatiently waiting for Akira's signal. In that amount of time, he researched all the behavior characteristics of both younger Kaiba brothers.

Mokuba, unfortunately, was shorter than he was, and he was forced to rule the boy out. But Noa was slightly taller, and he was his own height. So he had chosen the aquamarine haired teenager (a little research had yielded up the surprising fact that Noa's mind frame was around twenty, but his doctor's records stated that the boy was actually fifteen. He was not sure why there was a discrepancy between the two, but decided to let it alone).

Akira's plan was rather basic—he had known that Kaiba would, inevitably, end up involved with Yugi and his friends. So he had needed a way to deal with keeping the Kaibas out of the picture. The accident on the freeway had not just been a test to determine the extent of the Orichalcos; it had also been set up to get rid of the Kaiba factor.

When that had failed, Akira had immediately set up a new plan designed to keep the brothers out of his mainframe. He had realized that Atem would go to the hospital out of concern for the brothers, and that was when he had his agents patch up Noa Kaiba and he went to meet the Pharaoh. If that idea fell through, Plan 14 would come into play.

When they had captured both of the brothers, they had to act quickly; Akira knew that his actions involving that strange green light—the Orichalcos?—would be noted by the mysterious, cloaked marauder that had thrown a wrench into the works. They had barely managed to replace Noa with the hitman when the man had appeared. He had blasted the creatures holding the two boys and had teleported with them.

He had not been told that his mind would be overshadowed by some mysterious force; that little bit was left out. Although he had been initially annoyed by that realization, he had to admit that it certainly had come in handy. He began to act as Noa would, his information based on the jumbled thoughts he had been receiving as Noa woke up in his current prison. The migraine that had come had been the Millennium Rod relinquishing its hold on both him and the real Noa Kaiba.

Akira had counted on the fact that Noa and Kaiba had originally been mortal enemies, and therefore the betrayal would seem legitimate. Kaiba, though quite clever, was not supposed to be able to figure out that the current Noa he was dealing with was a fake. He was supposed to be reeling from the betrayal and he shouldn't be able to think coherently.

But somehow Kaiba had.

And the imposter then realized that he had angered one of the most powerful men in the world.

* * *

To say that Seto was irritated would be an obvious understatement.

The brunette towered over the cowering figure of Mokuba's captor, his fists clenched tight enough to risk drawing blood. Seto's entire body was almost crackling with rage, his eyes transformed into twin blue fires. His posture was tense, ready to act at a moment's notice; this man was not going to catch him off guard again.

"Let him go."

The words were not shouted or yelled, nor did his voice waver due to anger. They were spoken emotionlessly, never getting louder than a low murmur. Yet this man would be a fool to not yield to this 'request.'

The cobalt orbs narrowed, and the man actually flinched, his grip loosening on Mokuba and the knife lowering from its life-threatening position. The child, sizing up the situation, quickly scrambled away from the false Noa and flew to Seto's side. He pressed himself there, his own eyes a mixture of rage, indignation, and fear.

Seto's hand went slowly around his brother's shoulder, lightly resting there and reassuring him that his youngest brother was there beside him. But his piercing gaze never left the terrified figure before him, his eyes speaking of danger.

Seto was slightly surprised that the man was trembling in fear of him; if his suspicions were correct, then this man should be attempting to kill him. But when the figure sat there, his eyes wide with panic, Seto realized that the imposter had most likely never been found out before.

The hitman's eyes narrowed then, darting every which way with almost comical alarm, as if hoping there was some way out of this. He had lost the initial terror and was now trying to think of an escape plan or a way to gain the upper hand once more.

"Don't test me."

The other man flinched again at the sharp note in the teen's voice.

"I deal with people like you almost every day. You are nothing more than an insignificant flea compared to what I have to work with. You really don't want this fight," he continued, gently pushing Mokuba away from him. He knew what was coming next, and he was determined not to get his young brother hurt. "But if you want to have at it, I will warn you ahead of time: I show no mercy."

The smaller man seemed to weigh his options, and Seto saw him beginning to gather himself together. He avoided rolling his eyes—the idiot was actually going to try. Despite the fact Seto was taller, despite the fact that he had no strength to defeat him, despite everything, he was going to try.

It was almost laughable.

...and he thought Jounouchi was an idiot.

Without any warning the man lashed out with his foot, a hidden dagger in the toe gleaming in the lamplight. Seto dodged it easily, a bored look appearing on his face before catching the man's ankle and pulling it towards him. When the man's face was in range, Seto brought his fist into the other man's nose; he heard the crunch of bone and the man howled in agony. Driving his knee into the man's solar plexus, Seto pushed a pressure point on his opponent's neck that rendered him unconscious.

Seto regarded the fallen man with another bored look before crossing the room and picking up his briefcase. Opening it up, he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and latched them on the fake Noa's wrists; the wig had come off, revealing that his opponent was bald. After some thought, he took off his belt and wrapped it around the man's ankles as a precautionary measure.

Mokuba waited until the man was secure before crossing the room and hugging his brother in relief. Seto returned the hug, murmuring an apology for the shove.

"Seto, where did you get the handcuffs?" asked Mokuba, his voice muffled by Seto's shirt.

"At the office. I keep them there for occasions like this," he replied, glancing down at his young brother. "Are you all right?" he asked gently, his eyes losing their predatory gaze and softening. It would have been one thing to lose Noa....if he had lost Mokuba, too...Seto did not want to even think about it.

Mokuba nodded, looking up at his brother with a shaky smile. "I'm fine," he said, smiling as well. After a moment, however, the smile vanished and he asked suddenly, "If that guy was a fake, then where's our Noa?"

Seto blinked, frowning as he realized this. Worry once more settled over him; he had no idea what kind of condition his stepbrother was in, but he knew that he had to find out. Although his relationship with Noa was nowhere near anything like his and Mokuba's, Seto would be just as devastated if Noa had been killed.

"Let's find out," he replied at last, forcing his voice to remain calm as he wandered back over to the computer. As he passed the assassin, he snorted.

"I warned him," Seto said simply.

* * *

Yugi was doing slightly better than he had been ten minutes ago.

After the shorter teen had collapsed, Ryou and Noa had taken refuge in an ill-lit hallway, allowing Yugi to lie on the floor. Ryou had explained to Noa what was happening, and the two had settled down to wait; the only thing they could do at the time was wait for Yugi to recover. And it looked as if that was happening now, noted the white haired boy with relief.

Yugi's violet eyes were just now losing the lack-luster quality that had been in them for some time, regaining the light that normally filled them. Color was slowly returning to his alabaster cheeks and his previously labored breathing was beginning to even out, his gasps dying out slowly.

"Feeling any better, Yugi?" asked Noa after a moment, leaning into the addressed teen's line of vision. Yugi nodded, shakily pulling himself into a sitting position. After another moment's pause, he stood up with the other boys assisting him.

"I think we can go now," he said, shakily offering them a wan smile.

They suddenly heard footsteps and all three ducked into a closet; Noa's hands felt blindly around in the dark and his grip tightened on a wooden pole—a broom or a mop, if he guessed right. He was more than ready to nail whoever it was coming at them. "Open the door when I tell you to," he whispered to Ryou, and the other teen nodded.

"Hey! Yugi, Ryou, Noa!!"

A loud knock on the wooden door startled the assembled teens, but the voice calling their names was familiar, almost friendly. Noa held the wooden shaft of his weapon at the ready as the door opened. He had already dealt with enough imposters tonight, thank you very much, and he was not about to deal with another one.

The sight of Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi standing in the hallway confused the three all the more.

"You guys are lucky I didn't bean you with this," said Noa crossly, his eyes landing on the wooden shaft and identifying it as a broomstick.

"What are you doing here?! And how did you get up here so quickly?" asked Ryou in surprise, knowing for a fact that all of them had been at least on the bottom floor. The building was large and full of winding passages, plus the elevators did not work at all…so how had they all managed to get up there?

Jounouchi grinned, his brown eyes twinkling in amusement. "Turns out Akira had a secret elevator that no one knew about—and as for knowing what floor you were on, let's just say that I'm psychic."

"_Ignore the mutt. They got here because I found a secret elevator and got it to work_."

Noa's face broke into a relieved grin, and after locating the nearest camera he asked, "Miss me, Seto?"

_"…Do you_ really_ want an answer to that particular question, Noa?"_

"Nah. Better off not knowing anything. Are you two all right?" replied the aqua-haired Kaiba, his smile fading for a minute.

"_Next time you decide to get captured and have your evil twin replace you, tell me ahead of time. I'm beginning to think that you enjoy putting gray hairs on my head."_

"Yeah, Seto. Because _everyone_ knows that I love doing that to you," retorted Noa, rolling his eyes.

_"Are you relatively all right?"_

"Why 'relatively'?"

"_Because I know for a fact that you still have your injuries from earlier. That and the fact that you never had all your marbles to begin with."_

"Thank you so little."

"_You're welcome. Answer my question."_

"I'm just peachy. Where's the rest of our group?"

"_Most of you are on the fifteenth floor; the roof is only three more floors up. The people that were with you, Yugi, found the other prisoners and made their getaway. Atem, Akira, and Bakura are still up on the roof; there is someone else up there with them, but I can't tell who it is. Something weird is going on. It looks a lot like more of the hocus-pocus nonsense kind."_ The last statement was said with a distinct note of disdain, though they could hear the serious note beneath the sarcasm.

"What about Raphael and Alister? Are they okay?" asked Yugi, suddenly realizing that he had not seen the pair since their parting on the third floor. "Is Valon alive?"

A long pause. "_I can't get a hold of them—the speaker system is only allowing me to talk on floors above the eleventh and they're just leaving the seventh. I'm working on it, but...yeah. It looks like they have Valon with them."_

"You didn't answer Yugi. Is he alive, Kaiba?" asked Jounouchi loudly, his eyes narrowing. Although once former rivals, Jounouchi did not want to find that the Australian was dead; had they met under different circumstances, the blonde felt that the two of them could have been friends.

"_I can't tell from what I'm seeing. He's definitely unconscious, but beyond that... The paramedics are on their way, as are the police; I'll give you an update as soon as I can."_

There was a loud clicking sound as Seto hung up on the speaker, and everyone knew that the CEO had resumed his earlier, self-appointed task of gathering evidence. This left everyone gathered to ponder on their next course of action.

Which, actually, didn't take all that long to decide on.

"So, let's get goin'!" said Jounouchi with a wide grin, hurrying back the way he had come. "I'll show you guys where the elevator is!"

"Jounouchi, hold it! You might bump into some more guards!" yelled Anzu in annoyance, chasing after the retreating back of the blonde.

"Like you'll be able to do anything to them, Anzu?" called Honda, running after them also.

"Zuzu will pound them into the ground, Honda!"

"JOUNOUCHI KATSUYA!!"

Otogi shook his head but said nothing as he trailed after them as well, his black ponytail swishing back and forth. The other three boys looked at each other, offering amused glances to each other, before running after their friends as well.

An ominous rumble from overhead stopped Yugi briefly as he glanced upward. His eyes locked onto the roof, as if hoping that he would be able to see through the walls that separated them. After a moment, his gaze lowered and Yugi whispered softly, "Atem, please be all right."

* * *

Akira walked slowly through the maze, golden eyes searching the area.

He had yet to run into any monster tablets, but he had walked into numerous dead ends and gone in circles. He wondered vaguely how the Pharaoh was doing on his side of the maze; since he hadn't been attacked by any monsters, he could safely assume that his adversary had not run into any yet.

He studied the Pharaoh's words as he walked on the path, trying to understand what the former ruler had meant by 'attributes.' From what he had gathered, there was a single word that was directly linked to the monsters in the maze...but that was all the information he had. Or perhaps there was more than one...an accurate example would be a hotel key and a master key. Both the same, yet both different.

Did the Pharaoh mean that there was a word for each of the seven monsters, or had he meant that there was only one word?

As best as Akira could figure, the monsters had some connection to the Millennium Items—he had not missed on the subtle hint that there were seven creatures total in the maze, and he understood what it meant. But he had no idea how he was going to combat the creatures, seeing how as he had yet to run into one of them, and he was highly uncertain how to figure out the word that would save him and destroy the Pharaoh. Maybe perhaps—

Akira froze.

He had just rounded the corner of the path and had come face to face with one of the stone tablets.

The creature engraved on the sandy surface was female, clothed in a loose robe; Akira had no idea what color it was, but he strongly suspected that it was white. Long, flowing hair cascaded down to the ankles of the creature, somehow complimenting her. From her back sprouted four wings, their position slightly relaxed and yet the tips touching the edges of the tablet. Her hands rested delicately on her neckline, and an emotionless look was prominent on her features.

Above her head, framed by her wings, was the Eye of Horus, the center glowing with a dark light.

Akira frowned, waiting tensely for the creature to appear before him, but nothing happened. He had not stepped close enough to her to alert her of his presence, he realized. After a moment of debate, Akira quickly turned around and retreated the way he had come. Until he understood how to keep the monsters at bay, he needed to give them a wide berth.

He shivered slightly as a chill went through his body. The shadows all around him were draining him of the warmth in his body, and no matter how much he rubbed his arms against him he could not regain it. All around this wretched place were whispers of those who had been banished to the shadows, their eyes gleaming in the darkness like luminescent orbs. They were shapeless and had no form, but Akira was not about to underestimate the creatures.

A soft rustling movement behind him caught his attention, and Akira whirled around in time to face the angel on the tablet.

She was solid, standing in the middle of the path behind Akira. Her long, black hair flowed elegantly down to her ankles, as it had on the surface of the tablet. The four wings were coal black, the highlights a cobalt blue; the woman's skin was tanned and her pupil less red eyes stood out against her complexion. At her side was an ornamented sword sheath that Akira had failed to notice before—no doubt the sword would be just as ornamented, not to mention being deadly.

For a moment, the two wordlessly regarded each other; one was uncertain what to do and the other's features were made of marble. Akira gulped nervously as he stared at her. He knew what she was capable of, and he did not want to believe that she was here to harm him. But he could not determine her ultimate purpose behind her expressionless eyes and emotionless features.

"Tauk." The single word was spoken smoothly, with no catch or waver in her voice.

Before Akira had any time to react, the creature drew her sword and flew toward him. He felt a white hot pain hit his chest and Akira cried out in agony, falling to his knees. Above him, the creature watched his writhings coldly, her gaze unpitying and merciless. At the sound of footsteps, Akira barely managed to lift his head and see who else was coming down the path.

"So. You take the first hit. A pity...and here you were bragging to me that you would destroy me and take my Puzzle." The Pharaoh's voice was filled with contempt, his now crimson eyes matching the angel's in cruelty. "It seems that you are not nearly as intelligent as you led me to believe."

The Egyptian turned on his heel and walked back the way he had come, his footsteps muffled by the darkness around them.

Akira growled in a mixture of anger and pain, clutching his chest as he staggered to his feet. He was greeted by no one; his adversary had already rounded the corner and disappeared from view, and the angel had dissipated back into nothing. Pain lanced his chest again, and Akira looked down at it to survey the damage.

There was no blood, but it almost looked as if he had been burned; the skin was shiny and raw, painful to the touch, and it was slightly blistering. What on earth had that creature done to him?!

Akira winced, thinking rapidly as he tottered along the path. The angel had said something...what was it now...Tauk! She had said Tauk, right before the damage had been inflicted. But why? Why would she say that as she attacked him? Did that mean that it was the answer to the riddle? But what did that word have to do with any of his—

And then it hit him.

The Pharaoh had said there were seven tablets, each with different attributes. Each of the seven were in his research, as the Pharaoh had implied. Akira had to speak their attribute to inflict damage on the Pharaoh.

And what could do damage to a Pharaoh better than the very Millennium Items that he ruled over?

Akira smirked. His stride lengthened, and his pace quickened; he stepped forth with a confidence that had previously not been there.

He was back in the game.

* * *

"Whoa...what the heck happened here?" asked Jounouchi with wide eyes, looking around at the darkened rooftop.

The group had made it to the roof without further incidents to halt their progress, and now they just stood in the entryway, unable to move. Lightning flashed and thunder ominously rumbled overhead; all around the rooftop were swirling black shadows and purple mist, clouding everything in a haze.

"If I didn't know better...I'd say that this is a Shadow Game," said Anzu, cautiously taking a step forward.

"Oh boy, talk about your fixer-upper. Akira is gonna need some serious remodeling done when all this is over," muttered Noa darkly, stepping out as well and surveying the shadows warily. The rest of the group followed with exercised caution. "I mean, honestly, this guy has no—what the hey?!"

Noa's sentence was cut off as some of the shadows broke off from the swirling mass in front of them and gathered beneath their feet; once it had surrounded everyone, it slowly lifted into the air and hovered above the dark mass on the rooftop. Everyone fought to keep their balance and not fall off—but even so, Jounouchi somehow managed to end up dangling off the edge of the platform.

"Help!!" he cried, struggling to get back onto the solid mass in the air.

"Hold on, Jou!" cried Honda, grabbing one of the blonde's wrists and tugging upward; Otogi also moved to help, as did Ryou.

Once they had gotten Jounouchi back onto the platform, everyone heaved a sigh of relief before venturing to the end of the platform to look down on the roof's surface. As far as anyone of them could tell, it seemed to be a maze of sorts; there was a generous layer of purple mist covering the top of the arena, but in between gaps they could see winding pathways.

"What on earth is that?" asked Anzu with a frown, her blue eyes troubled.

"Is it not painfully obvious, girl? It's a Shadow Game," retorted a very familiar voice, and Yugi turned to his left to find the owner.

Bakura was standing on a similar platform that they were, surveying them all with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. Behind him, a tall man with aquamarine hair stood silently, not looking up when Anzu had spoken; his attention was entirely on the proceedings below them. Yugi realized with a start that he recognized the other man.

So did a few others.

"What's Dartz doin' here?" asked Jounouchi, his eyes narrowing angrily. Honda nodded in agreement, cracking his knuckles loudly; Otogi and Anzu exchanged bewildered looks, and Ryou and Noa merely stood with puzzled looks on their faces.

At the sound of his name, the Atlantean looked up at them and dipped his head in greeting. "Hello," he said smoothly, calmly ignoring the dark looks he was being given. "I trust that most of you are unharmed."

"Yeah, no thanks to you! What are you doin' here anyway? I thought that you died!" snapped Jounouchi angrily.

"You would do well to understand your circumstances before making accusations," replied Dartz, unfazed. He looked over to Yugi and dipped his head again. "Yugi."

"Dartz, what are you doing here?" asked Yugi, confusion playing across his face.

"I am merely righting a wrong, Yugi. I am cleaning up the mess I left behind me. Although, I do believe that the matter is out of my hands at the moment," said Dartz after a moment's pause, his expression darkening.

"What do you mean? And where's Atem?" Yugi said now, noticing that his look-alike was nowhere on the other platform.

"Where else do you think he is?" retorted Bakura, pointing down at the swirling mass of shadows beneath them. "Surely as his other half you would have sensed it."

"Sensed what? Oh man...don't tell me that Atem started this!" cried Honda, his eyes widening. Everyone gasped in alarm, realizing what Bakura meant.

"Atem started a Shadow Game? But why?" asked Anzu, her face pale.

While Bakura and Dartz began filling the others in on what had transpired on the rooftop, Yugi focused on reaching Atem via the mind link. He had to find out what Atem was going to do...surely Atem wasn't going to kill Akira...

_Atem? Atem, answer me! I know you can hear me!! _

Yugi's efforts were useless at first, but just as he was about to give up in resignation a familiar voice echoed in his mind.

**_What do you want, Yugi?_**

Yugi froze. The words on the other end of the link were spoken in a harsh tone, cold and pitiless. He could practically feel the venom dripping off of the sentence; clearly, Atem did not want to be interrupted in his game.

_Atem, why are you doing this?! _

**_...Is it really any of your business, Yugi? Akira wanted to experience a Shadow Game—and that's what he is doing._**

_You have to stop this!! This isn't right!_

**_Do you want me to stop Akira? Or should I just let him go free? I don't think so, Yugi._**

"Yugi, what's the Pharaoh saying?" asked Ryou, finally noticing the blank look on Yugi's face. He knew what it meant, and he also did not like the way the shorter boy's face was contorted with worry.

"Atem...he's not...something's wrong with him," replied Yugi after a moment, his eyes filling with alarm. "He's not himself."

"Of course not," growled Bakura, though there was a faint hint of concern on his face. "The Pharaoh is too deep in the Game and his mind is in shadow. He won't act like himself until the Game is over."

Yugi frowned. Atem had to be reasoned with—but the way his other half was acting, Yugi was none too hopeful that his message would go through the Egyptian's mind. Nonetheless...he had to try again.

_Atem, this isn't right and you know it. You fought against this when you ruled Egypt, and five thousand years shouldn't be enough to change that. I know that Akira has to be punished...but this is not the way to do it. Furthermore, I know that this is not who you are! Snap out of it!!_

But it seemed his pleas were in vain. Yugi felt nothing but hostility radiating through the mind link; Atem clearly could not hear what Yugi was saying to him, and now the short teen had a suspicion that his other half was ignoring him. He clenched his fists and lowered his head.

"He isn't listening, is he?" asked Anzu softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"There's gotta be a way to reach him!" cried Jounouchi angrily, slamming a fist violently into an open palm. "He's acting the way he did when we all met!"

Honda frowned, placing a hand on his chin and his eyes deep in thought. "What Akira did must have sent Atem over the edge…maybe if we do something that counteracts that anger, Atem might listen to us."

"But how? Guys, I don't think that Atem is in any mood to listen to us," replied Noa, shaking his head. His green bangs slipped into his eyes, and he brushed them away impatiently. "If even Yugi can't get him to listen, what good will we do?"

There was a heavy silence.

"Please don't tell me that you all are going to start singing 'Kumbayah,'" grumbled Bakura at length, rolling his eyes.

Yugi frowned, looking down once more at the swirling purple clouds beneath their feet. There had to be a way to reach his other half…there just had to be! But what? How could Yugi reach Atem if the ancient Pharaoh would not even listen to him…?

Then Yugi realized something.

Atem was purposely ignoring Yugi because Yugi was beyond the boundary of the maze; the short teen was not within the Shadow Game beneath them, and therefore Atem would be able to successfully ignore his partner.

If he entered the maze as well…would he be able to restore Atem's senses?

There was really only one way to find out.

Yugi surveyed the shadows beneath him critically, thinking rapidly. Generally, those involved in a Shadow Game were the only ones allowed into the playing field—the only way Yugi could get into the maze was if he was inside of the Millennium Puzzle. But how would he accomplish that? He was no longer sharing a body with Atem, so that option was ruled out.

Frankly, Yugi could not really see any other way to enter than to do the obvious.

He jumped.

Briefly, he heard several alarmed voices call his name as he fell, but the sounds disappeared as soon as he hit the misty blanket covering the roof.

Cold ripped through his body, and he shivered as he continued to fall through the inky blackness. The feeling spread from his fingertips all the way to his heart; this was a soul-chilling cold, the only kind that this accursed realm offered. He wondered if he would ever reach the bottom of this darkness.

As if on cue, Yugi saw the ground rush up to meet him and he fell onto it with a muffled thump. He lay there dazedly for a moment, not really sure where he had landed—he knew that people outside a Shadow Game rarely were able to get inside the miserable confines. He fully expected to see the others hurrying toward him, with Jounouchi and Anzu in the lead.

Apparently there was a first time for everything.

Shadows swirled around him menacingly, pooling around his ankles and threatening to hold him in place. Hurriedly, Yugi stepped away and looked around at his surroundings warily. When he felt an icy grip on his ankles once again, he continued to hurry forward. Apparently, he was not supposed to stay in any one area at any given time.

The shadows chilled him to the bone and Yugi shivered again, but his purpose was not to be deterred.

He was going to find Atem and get him to stop the game before someone was killed.

…at least, that was what Yugi was hoping he could do.

* * *

Akira stared up at the tablet, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

He had been struck again, making it twice that he had received damage. The damage had come from the monster representing the Millennium Scales. In retaliation, Atem had been struck twice by the representatives of the Millennium Eye and the Millennium Ankh.

That left now only three more monsters to face.

Akira was standing in front of one of them.

He regarded the tablet intently, watching as the monster materialized in front of him. He barely focused on the fact, quickly assessing all the characteristics of the beast in front of him, knowing that the action was critical. If Akira was attacked once more…then he would lose.

And he had read enough of the scrolls to know what happened to losers.

The monster in front of him was lanky, yet heavily structured; the muscles on the creature made someone like Raphael look like a child in comparison. In the middle of the creature's forehead, he could see the symbol of the Millennium Items glowing on it, casting an eerie glow on its features. The eyes looking at him were cold and lackluster, devoid of any thought or emotion. Its growl was inhuman sounding, as if there were two voices…

Akira frowned, thinking about each of the Millennium Items quickly, before realizing that it could only be one thing out of the three that had characteristics like this. "You are the Millennium Rod!" cried Akira triumphantly, pointing at the monster in delight.

Mutely, the creature bowed its head in acknowledgement and abruptly vanished from Akira's view. Relief washed through the man at the action, but worry soon replaced that. What was the point of stalling one monster's attack when there were at least two other monsters in the maze?

He needed to win now, before Atem found the last two monsters and completely annihilated him with them. But how…how could he find the center before the Pharaoh did…? He would need to have someone to direct him to it—

**Fool. You have unlimited resources at your disposal. Use them.**

The dark and hateful voice echoed in Akira's mind, and he shivered. For one moment, he thought it was Bakura, but this voice was darker…more hate-filled…He'd heard this voice on more than one occasion, sometimes while he slept. In fact, it was because of this voice that he had installed a special feature into the center of the roof…

The words, however, jolted something in Akira's memory, and he smirked.

There _was_ a way to get there.

When Akira had first arrived at the building, it had been in shambles; not one of the electrical components worked and the plumbing was less than desirable. But, much to his amazement, the security system was pristine. Though it had no electricity, it was still able to be used. And Akira had pressed the advantage, repairing everything to its former glory.

The rooftop security included surveillance cameras—which would be of no use to him because of the purplish mist surrounding the maze—and countless sensors, designed to alert the control room if any unidentifiable weight was on its surface.

Using sonar technology, the sensors mapped out the entire surface of the roof and presented the viewer with a 3D scan of what the roof looked like. And the system was accessible from Akira's PDA, allowing him to see for himself what was on the roof. Although this technology was beyond advancement—rivaling Seto Kaiba's tech—Akira did not really care.

Working for a man who had lived for ten thousand years had its perks.

Pulling out the device, he opened up the program and stood impatiently, waiting for the program to load and give him results. It may not even work because of the fact that the Shadow Game was not solid; it was composed of that strange smoky substance…

A soft _beep_ made him look down and his eyes lit up with an evil look.

It had worked.

Without another word, Akira began to follow the path as was directed on the PDA. Who cared if he didn't find the other tablets? He would get to the center before the Pharaoh…he would win.

Nothing else mattered.

Yugi was not really sure what had just happened.

He had been running down one of the paths, searching desperately for Atem, when a monster suddenly materialized in front of him. It was a tall, brutish looking monster, with the Eye of Horus prominent on its forehead. It had stood there for all of three seconds before announcing, "Rod," in a cold, distorted voice—

And then, without warning, it had vanished and attacked Yugi with its taloned hands, the claws raking through his clothing and running across his back.

The shorter teen did not even have time to scream in pain and crumpled to the ground, groaning and gasping for breath. His eyes watered and his vision blurred…this hurt worse than the earlier pain he had experienced. He lacked any energy to stand, the fiery hot pain coursing through him in an overwhelming wave. What had just happened? Why had that monster attacked him?

Gritting his teeth, Yugi forced himself to his feet and staggered down the path. He had to keep moving…he had to find Atem before things got out of hand…no matter how much pain his back was in…

He almost fell once, but he finally managed to make it down to the end of the passageway. By that point, his back had stopped throbbing and the pain was subsiding. That was decidedly better than it had been before, Yugi thought to himself as he leaned against the wall.

Was that monster a part of the Shadow Game? If so, what had happened? What were the conditions of the game? All these questions swirled through his mind as he walked, determined to focus on them rather than on the pain in his back.

Footsteps drawing near him forced Yugi to look up at the owner. What if it was Akira? If it was, he needed to get out of there and find Atem. No telling what the madman would do to him if he got Yugi in his clutches.

But when he saw who it was, he almost wished that it had been Akira.

Atem had rounded the corner and was surveying him coldly, his face devoid of any concern or care and filled with darkness. His usually wise violet colored eyes had been replaced with hate-filled crimson, and—like the monster that had attacked him—the Eye of Horus stood out against Atem's features.

"Yugi. I told you to stay out of the maze. This is not your business."

The voice was cold and unfeeling, filled with hate and malice. Yugi shuddered, backing away and using the wall for support. No doubt about it—Atem was not _there_. Physically, yes, this was his other half. But his mind was clouded in shadow. This was someone else altogether, someone he did not know…and it frightened him. He looked Atem directly in the eye.

"Atem, you have to stop this. This is not going to work. All it's doing is corrupting you and clouding your judgment. This isn't doing anything!"

"It's stopping Akira, isn't it?" retorted Atem coldly, looking down at Yugi imperiously. "I plan to defeat him."

"Atem, would you listen to yourself?! You sound like you care less!"

"I don't. Akira can die for all I care," replied Atem calmly, brushing past Yugi and deliberately knocking the other teen off of his feet. Yugi crashed on his injured back and he cried out in pain, his eyes watering. Atem did not even glance back as he began walking down the maze path once more.

"He has taken nearly four hundred lives in his quest for power, and it is time that someone brought him to justice. He must atone for his crimes. You just stay here and wait for me to deal with you for disobedience."

It sounded to Yugi that Atem's mind had passed onto a darker place, one that Yami Marik had once inhabited. This would be the point where most everyone else would step back in resignation.

But Yugi was not ready to give up.

Forcing himself to his feet, he stood, swaying violently as he watched Atem. Spots threatened to engulf his vision, but he ignored it. He had one last try that he could use, one last hope he was banking on—and it had to work.

"You're no better than Akira is."

His other side stopped, stiffening abruptly. He slowly turned back and asked, "What did you say…?"

Yugi felt something of hope prick his soul—he had his other half's attention at last. The Egyptian was frozen to the spot by Yugi's statement; the chance to restore his other half's senses was presenting itself. Yugi knew he had to act now.

"Akira…yes, he's done a lot of terrible things. And yes, he deserves punishment for what he's done. I understand that—_but this isn't the way to do it_."

The pain in his back began to flare up once more, but he ignored it and chose to focus on Atem's stunned face. "A Shadow Game won't fix what's happened. It won't bring back all the lives lost to Akira's plans, it won't erase his actions or return what was lost, and it certainly won't be doing anything to him. All this will do is place the weight of what he has done on your shoulders. Do you really want that?"

Atem looked away, his back to Yugi. Since he wasn't moving away, Yugi could safely assume that the Pharaoh was still listening. But for how much longer?

"It isn't too late. We can still find a way out of this, and find another way to punish Akira. But this…this is taking it too far." Yugi hesitated, knowing that his next words would dredge up an old emotional wound, but he pushed on ahead. "This happened before, back with the Orichalcos. You remember what happened the last time you lost yourself? _If you keep going on this path, then you'll end up there again._"

Atem half turned toward him, his eyes obscured by his bangs.

"Atem…come back…return to yourself before it's too late. Please…don't let this happen again…please…"

Yugi would have liked to keep on talking, but events at that point were beyond his control.

His back was on fire and his legs trembled beneath him, threatening to give beneath him. The pain was making it difficult to focus properly on what was happening at the moment, and his vision blurred and spun dizzyingly. Without warning, his legs abruptly gave way beneath him and the ground rushed up eagerly to meet him.

But he never hit the ground.

Someone had caught him, he realized dimly. Someone had stopped his descent and was now carefully lowering him to the ground, making sure to be gentle. Yugi smiled—there was only one other person here with him. And he also knew that his words had broken through.

"You're back."

Atem was looking down at him, his eyes returned to their soft amethyst hue. The Eye of Horus was gone from his head, and his face was filled with guilt, worry, and concern. His eyes were glassy, and Yugi was unsure if there were tears in his friend's eyes.

"Yugi…I'm…I…I am so sorry…I just…I heard what he said…and he…I…" Atem looked away from Yugi in shame, his golden bangs hiding his expression.

Yugi sat up with an effort and said firmly, "Look at me, Atem."

After a moment his counterpart did as Yugi requested, his violet eyes filled with remorse.

"If I blamed you for what happened, I wouldn't still be here, would I?" he asked softly, offering him a weak smile. "You came back to your senses, and that's all that matters."

"Yugi…I don't deserve a second chance…I am not qualified for this task anymore—"

"Atem, _yes you are_. You lost your temper—everyone has some point in their life. And you snapped out of it before too much harm was done. There is still time to change what's happened. C'mon, Atem, think. Is there some kind of loophole?"

Atem remained silent for a long moment, his expression unchanging. At last, he said quietly, "The only way out of here is to get to the center of the maze or to be attacked by the most monsters. And in either event, one of us still loses."

"Monsters? Like the one that attacked me?"

Atem stiffened, only just then noticing the way Yugi was bending to prevent his back from aching. "One of them attacked _you_?" he asked in a horrified whisper. He began investigating the injuries underneath the torn cloth, probing it with gentle fingers.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it did before, though," said Yugi reassuringly, wincing as Atem's fingers pushed down too hard on one cut. "It hurts a lot less than it did a couple of minutes ago…"

"Why, though? The monsters were only supposed to attack the players of the game…you shouldn't have been injured, Yugi. That should not have happened. Yet it did, and for the life of me I can't figure out why," said Atem with a frown, finishing his examination. It seemed that Yugi was all right, and he helped his other half to his feet.

"I don't know. Maybe the monster made a mistake," said Yugi in reply.

"No…it isn't permitted for one to make a—" Atem stopped in midsentence, his eyes widening in realization.

There_ was_ a way out of this.

"Yugi, can you run?" he asked urgently, turning to his other half.

Yugi nodded slowly, confusion in his eyes. "I think so…why?"

"We have no time to waste. We must find another monster tablet, before Akira does," Atem replied, beginning to hurry down the path.

"What?! Why?"

"The monster was supposed to attack _me_. The one who was attacked by the most monsters loses."

"I understand that, but we're trying to get everyone out of this maze. Why do we want to attack Akira?"

"Yugi, the monster attacked you because, in a manner of speaking, you are me. But at the same time, you are not me—you are you. A third party."

"…how many monsters are there?"

"Seven. One for each Millennium Item."

Yugi's eyes went round as the answer presented itself. "That means—"

"By getting attacked, Yugi, you've created a chance for a tie-breaker. You have given me a chance to force the Game into a stalemate. The idea won't work, however, if we don't find one more monster and attack Akira with it."

"But if that happens…"

"The Game will be forced into a tie and, like the Orichalcos, the match becomes null and void."

Yugi's face lit up with delight. "I knew you'd find a way out of this, Atem!"

Atem smiled slightly at his other half before halting and turning to face his Hikari. "Yugi…thank you," he said softly.

"For what?"

"…for giving me another chance when I don't deserve it."

Yugi blinked, and then smiled. "I told you, Atem—I forgive you. Quit beating yourself up about it and let's find that monster tablet."

Atem nodded, hurrying around the corner.

And then stopped altogether.

Yugi hadn't been expecting Atem to stop so abruptly, and as a result crashed into the back of him. Rubbing his nose, Yugi looked up at Atem and asked, "Why'd you stop?"

Mutely, he pointed at a stone tablet in front of them.

The creature on the tablet had materialized in front of them and was a lot scarier looking than any either Yugi or Atem had encountered thus far. While all the other monsters had a solid shape to them and definitive features, this creature had no such thing. It was draped entirely in shadow, human in shape and its features vaguely emphasized. Its eyes were a burning red, one that rivaled Atem's previously crimson ones, and there was hatred in those eyes that made Yugi shiver.

Atem stared silently at the creature, running through all of the remaining possible monsters mentally—which did not take that long. But nonetheless, Atem hesitated to answer just yet. It could very well be the Millennium Ring, but it also could be the Millennium Puzzle.

He wouldn't be surprised, after the way he had been acting before.

"Oh for Ra's sake, Pharaoh, quit wasting your time and call it by name!" snapped a very familiar voice, startling the other two teens assembled, and they turned to look for the source.

Bakura was standing in front of them, his brown eyes flashing indignantly as he regarded them both. The color of his silver hair was muted by the shadows around them, as was his body. Come to think of it…Bakura didn't look solid…

"B-Bakura! How did you—?"

"I had a piece of my soul in your Millennium Puzzle once, Pharaoh. Although it was expelled when you defeated me, I remember the way back inside—the perks of being a thief," replied Bakura irritably. "Now, Pharaoh, I suggest you get a move on and call the creature by name."

Atem frowned. "How do you know what the Shadow Game is?"

"Because I followed Yugi into the maze when he jumped. My Hikari insisted I go with him—I really need to build up a resistance to pocky…" muttered the tomb robber, his body solidifying once more.

Atem turned back to the tablet and looked at it, his frown deepening. Really, though, it hadn't required too much thought—the hatred in those eyes was easily recognizable.

"You are the Millennium Ring."

The creature gave a mock bow before vanishing into the air, no doubt carrying out its appointed task. But Atem did not pay it much heed as he began hurrying down the path once more, determination shining in his eyes. The end was near…all that was needed was Akira to find another monster and attack him with it, and the game would be—

He froze in the path.

"Atem?" asked Yugi worriedly. "Atem, why did we stop?"

He turned to ask Bakura about what had happened to Atem, but the old thief had also frozen. Both of their eyes were blank, clouded over with a faint crimson light.

"Atem…?" asked Yugi cautiously. "Bakura…?"

"That incomprehensible, irresponsible, incompetent, moronic, imbecilic _FOOL!!_" roared Bakura abruptly, startling Yugi enough to cause him to stumble against Atem. The Pharaoh started, managing to keep Yugi on his feet.

"Bakura, what's happened?" Yugi inquired, wincing as the thief let loose with a colorful stream of curses. Realizing that Bakura was most likely not going to respond, Yugi turned to Atem and repeated his question.

The strange light in Atem's eyes remained for a moment longer before it dissipated and they returned to their original violet color. The Pharaoh looked down at Yugi, barely noticing Bakura's outburst. His gaze was heavy and his next words were filled with regret. "Akira…he just cheated."

Yugi was stunned into silence, feeling the color draining from his face. At last, he managed to ask, "How do you know?!"

"My senses right now are still in tune with this Realm and the Darkness within it. Bakura is as well, seeing how as he was once a part of this place. Akira cheated just now—he's at the center of the maze."

No sooner had the words left Atem's mouth than the smoke swirled around them and the little warmth in the air left them. Yugi gasped aloud as the cold ripped through his skin and he trembled; the pain in his back ignited briefly before fading once more into nothing. His vision blurred again and Yugi stumbled backward.

A steady, firm hand caught him and kept him from falling over. Yugi initially thought it was Atem, but was surprised to learn that it was the tomb robber holding him up, an annoyed look on his face. "It won't help us any if you swoon," he growled in response to the startled look on Yugi's face.

Atem looked over at Bakura with something of gratefulness, but as the shadows dissipated the look vanished.

Akira was standing in the mouth of a passageway, his back illuminated by an ominous golden light. Next to him was the last remaining tablet, the monster on its surface blank. Akira seemed to be confused. "Why can't I see the monster? Where is it?!" he yelled angrily.

Atem regarded him in silence before stepping forward and saying quietly, "The challenge is over. Akira, you have cheated and therefore must play the Penalty Game."

Akira stared back at the Pharaoh in alarm, his eyes widening. "B-but I never left the maze!! I never set foot outside of the boundaries!!"

"You stayed in here physically, true. But your mind did not remain in the parameters of the maze—you used your technology to find your way here. You were to find the center on your own, without any assistance. You did not do that, and therefore have failed the challenge."

The shadows swirled around them ominously, and Akira gulped, open fear and panic on his face. "W-wait, Pharaoh—!"

"The Door to Darkness has opened," said Atem quietly, his gaze never leaving Akira's.

Bakura watched silently, his eyes narrowed in an unreadable emotion; Yugi felt as if he was frozen to the spot. Atem's eyes never left Akira's person, watching as the shadows closed in around him. Yugi knew what would happen next—he'd watched it happen before, though he was sure that Ryou had seen it much more than he had.

But Yugi blinked as the shadows around Akira began swirling around him rhythmically, fluctuating with every passing moment. An unpleasant grin had made its way onto Akira's face, which had also darkened ominously; the light in the older man's eyes made Yugi recoil. The man was consumed by shadows, his body becoming a large entity of the dark substance.

He held up a hand and all the shadows disappeared, gathering at Akira's raised palm. The night air once more began to blow, tickling Yugi's face and gently pushing his hair about; his back abruptly stopped aching, though he was very weary. But Yugi paid no attention to that—he was more than a little concerned at the recent turn of events.

Atem and Bakura, however, looked as if they were expecting this.

"So. You've finally decided to show yourself, you old coot?" snapped Bakura irritably, his eyes narrowed darkly at Akira's menacing figure.

Atem said nothing, though his eyes were also dark. He spoke aloud at last. "I was beginning to wonder when it was that you would finally reveal yourself."

The shadowed figure grinned, and Yugi shuddered at the darkness he could so plainly see. **"Well, well, it looks as if the bitty Pharaoh and his trusted lackey found it out at last. But then again…that was why you'd originally planned for the Shadow Game—you planned on smoking me out when things got too out of hand."**

The voice coming toward them was so filled with malice and hate…with darkness…Yugi knew that he'd heard that voice coming toward him once before, but he had no idea as to where that voice had been.

**"I did not think that you would quite snap the way you did, Pharaoh. But then again, I also am inclined to believe that in the beginning you were in control of your senses. Thanks to me, though, you lost control of that."**

Atem remained silent, frowning. He looked over at Bakura and asked softly, "Did you sense it when we came here?"

The reply was in a murmur. "Of course I did. The minute we set foot in this wretched place I sensed it—_his _presence is one not easily forgotten."

Yugi frowned, looking to Atem for an answer. "What's going on?" he asked softly, his eyes worried.

The two Egyptians said nothing for the longest moment, seemingly unsure of answering Yugi. At last, Atem cleared his throat and said softly, "Yugi, the creature in front of us is no longer Akira…in fact, this was never Akira to begin with."

"It may have been once," continued Bakura, his eyes haunted as he gazed at the swirling mass of shadow. "But believe me when I tell you that the real Akira is no longer on this mortal plane; his soul is either dead or close to it, and it has been for some time."

"So then…wait. Are you saying that this whole time…Akira was not the one doing this?"

"Not exactly. Think of it like this—a giant parasite has been feeding off of Akira and got big enough to conquer the host," said Bakura in that same haunted voice. Yugi knew then that what was happening was connecting with Bakura in some fashion or another.

He knew that because the silver haired teen was being civil for once.

Atem regarded Akira's form coldly, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Reveal yourself. Your charade is over, and your scheme is found out."

Akira leered, grinning unpleasantly at them.** "So, Pharaoh, you figured it out. Bakura used a most accurate description, little Yugi, but I am much more than a mere parasite. Certainly I am more powerful than an insignificant creature."**

Yugi frowned at the shadowed figure, trying to make sense of the knowledge he was being presented with. Atem, meanwhile, had moved slightly in between Akira and Yugi; Bakura moved closer as well, a mixture of fear and hatred flashing through his eyes. It seemed that he was (though he would never admit it) using Atem as his protection.

Why was Bakura so afraid of Akira all of a sudden? Yugi looked over, noticing the way the tomb robber was regarding the dark figure across from them. Surely it wasn't Akira who was striking fear into Bakura's heart—he'd been derisive and annoyed with the other man all day, so what had changed that in the last…few…minutes…

Yugi paled.

He knew. He knew who it was standing in that swirling mass of shadow, who it was controlling Akira, who it was that made Bakura afraid, who the 'parasite' was. He had known, ever since he'd seen the darkness in Akira's eyes; he had seen that darkness once and only once before—in a realm far beyond human concept, in a place that he had not lived in but Atem had.

He made himself look at Atem for a contradiction, praying that his fears were unfounded.

Atem did not offer one, and his next words were spoken in an eerie calm.

"You deliberately made Akira cheat, without his knowledge, so that you could gain complete control of him and use him for your own purposes—just as you did to Bakura and Akhenaden long ago. That behavior is instantly recognizable, if one knows what to look for."

Atem remained silent for a moment longer before looking at the swirling mass in front of him. "Show yourself for what you truly are—_Zorc Necrophades!_"


	15. The Calm Before The Storm

_Really, there's not much I have to say about this chapter. _

_After this are definitely two more chapters (maybe a third). I have yet to type 16, but rest assured that I will immediately get to work in posting it. All Fanfiction requests are (for the moment) getting put on hold. Thank you for being so patient._

_Oh, one more thing about this chapter__ (and you will see what I am talking about when you come to it):_

_Made-ja look._

* * *

A pair of golden eyes narrowed darkly at the darkness.

Granted, he had seen this coming for a while. He had known almost instantly what Akira had been up to; from as far back as in Doom he knew what Akira was trying. But he had truly no idea of how far Akira was willing to go, how many lives he was willing to take before his goal was accomplished. It was not much better than what he himself had done while under the influence of the Orichalcos.

But Dartz was not focusing on that.

When he had left the Pharaoh and his other half (or rather, they had left him behind) back at Atlantis, it had so turned out that Dartz was not yet allowed to die peacefully. His father had told him so when they had been briefly reunited; Dartz had to serve in atonement first before he would be allowed to join his family. That was how, months afterward, Dartz had heard about Akira's re-emergence.

He had briefly infiltrated Akira's organization the previous month after spending countless time searching and had seen the warning signs of Zorc Necrophades' return. Almost immediately afterward he was forced to flee for his life, and he had barely escaped.

Following that moment, Dartz had waited patiently for Akira to try summoning the lost Items (he had sensed the Pharaoh's power abruptly disappear, which meant the Pharaoh had left; a benefit of the Orichalcos poisoning his mind allowed him to sense other sources of magic). When Akira tried his spell, Dartz had unleashed a powerful counterspell, sending both the Pharaoh and another man he was unfamiliar with back to their descendents.

Now he was surveying the scene grimly, trying to figure out what he could do.

Almost all of his Mirror Knights were gone; if the last one vanished, Dartz would die. That was almost certain, unless he had been cursed with immortality for the duration of his penance. Zorc could only be defeated by the Pharaoh—but the god cards had not yet been seen. Dartz had no idea what had become of them; the Pharaoh needed their tablets (or the cards) to call them, which meant that the Goddess of Light could not be summoned. And Dartz's own energy was almost depleted.

He frowned slightly at the familiar tug of the Orichalcos in his mind. Since they had entered this wretched building, he had felt the Orichalcos tearing at his carefully built defenses; it was trying to convince him to take it up once more. But this tugging sensation was different—if it was given a visible color, he would say that there was a blue color mixed with the green light.

And his frown deepened as he realized what that 'blue light' was.

He may not be able to help the Pharaoh due to his limited strength, but he did know what he could do.

Dartz activated his _ka _shelf once more (when Atem had initiated the Shadow Game, the golden artifacts had immediately gone dormant) and looked over at his Mirror Knight when it appeared. He then gave it a silent order. The creature dipped its head and disappeared from view; no one around him saw it leave, as their attention was diverted and focused on the swirling mass of darkness that was Zorc. But the Pharaoh seemed to notice it, though he said nothing.

The former king of Atlantis felt the other energy in the Orichalcos beginning to fade. His eyes filled with a troubled look as he watched his _ka _go. He sent one final message after it.

_Hurry,_ _or we will be too late_.

* * *

In a darkened room, somewhere underneath a group of teenagers, the Mirror Knight re-materialized.

The room itself was constructed in an abnormal fashion, one that the Knight was familiar with. His master had used it and its companions to fight in a room similarly built to this; the feel of this place was unmistakable.

Normally, it would have taken the Mirror Knight a little longer to find the target of its master's order, but the same blue light that his master had sensed but not seen was plainly visible to the creature.

The Mirror Knight crossed the room to stand in front of a certain tablet that was faintly glowing with blue light. It had seen four other lights while in its master's service: one gold, one crimson, one violet, and its master's green aura. They exuded the same power that this light emanated—a powerful soul that was once in the service of the Orichalcos.

In the past, the Knight's master had used it to imprison the soul within its own body until the monster was forced to relinquish it. What his master had ordered was slightly different, but not unachievable.

The Mirror Knight and its companions had the ability to mimic or retain one soul. His master had asked it to release the soul that the tablet in front of it held.

So it did.

Had anyone stood in the room and watched, they would have seen the Knight hold its hand, palm outstretched, toward the tablet for only a brief and flitting moment; whatever happened then was lost in the speed of its action.

But then they would see the result of what it had done: a glowing sphere of light hovered in front of it for just a moment before flying through the floor to find its place.

And had they followed the orb, they would have seen that it flew down all the way to the building's exit, where it hovered hesitantly behind two men, one blonde and the other having red hair. In the blonde's arms was a limp and unmoving figure.

The light silently slipped under the blonde's arm and disappeared into the body in his arms.

* * *

Up on the rooftop, things were definitely heading downhill.

Jounouchi and the others were doing their best not to get blown off by the sudden whirlwind that was being generated by the darkness around them and all the while staring in disbelief at the figure that was Zorc Necrophades.

"**I bet you were not expecting me to ever return, Bitty Pharaoh," **said Zorc evilly, his eyes alight with malice.

Bakura snorted. "You just can't kill people like you used to," he said loudly over the roar of the wind.

The red eyes narrowed. **"You will address me with the proper amount of respect, Tomb Raider, or I will make you return to the nothingness that I sent you to last time."**

Bakura blanched openly for one moment before his eyes narrowed dangerously and he snarled, "Try it!"

But it was quite obvious to Yugi that the other Yami was absolutely terrified at the moment, though the white haired thief had no intention of showing his fear and was making every attempt to retain his courage and appear nonplussed.

Zorc laughed darkly. **"My, you've gotten bold. With the Bitty Pharaoh behind you, you act as if you are capable of standing up to me."**

The former Thief King bristled but said nothing; he didn't really have to. The fury in his eyes was enough.

Yugi turned to Atem, who had not taken his eyes off of the darkness that was Zorc. A grim look was on his face, and his violet eyes were narrowed darkly. The Pharaoh, however, did not bear the stunned look that nearly everyone else—including himself—had on their faces. Rather, he was watching Zorc warily, much like what someone would do when confronted with a poisonous snake.

Dartz and Bakura wore similar looks, though the Atlantean was watching Zorc with a mixture of calm and curiosity and Bakura's eyes were flashing with anger and a tiny glimmer of fear. "So, Pharaoh…do you have a plan in mind?" asked Dartz quietly, turning to Atem and regarding him quietly.

Atem said nothing, continuing to watch the darkness. However, he was going through his options grimly, trying to figure out where to go from here. Without the god cards in hand, Atem was uncertain how to defeat Zorc. Horakhty would not be able to be summoned without them, and he knew that Bakura was aware of this fact as well. However, they still had a slight advantage: the Millennium Items were not strong enough to give Zorc the amount of power he had once possessed, and therefore he was sufficiently weaker than he was.

But that was not enough of an advantage to defeat him.

"Pharaoh," growled Bakura quietly. "I don't suppose we have any more _ka_ shelves. Because if we do, we might give them to your friends and use them to help defeat him."

Bakura had recognized the fact that Zorc was weaker than he was last time, and Atem had thought of that idea as well. The only problem with that was—

"We don't have any more."

Bakura snarled in Egyptian angrily.

Atem looked back at the darkness, his frown deepening every second. There had to be a way to defeat Zorc…there just had to be. But until Atem could figure it out, he needed to keep Zorc occupied. His friends were on this roof with him, and if Zorc attacked then everything was over.

"How long did it take for you to corrupt Akira's mind?" he asked then, making himself heard over the loud wail of the wind.

The entity smirked in response. **"It did not take me that long. As a child, Akira was decidedly angry and bitter toward the lack of caring his parents demonstrated. He went unnoticed quite a bit, what with his mother and father poring over their research, and he decided that he would one day make them realize his existence. As he grew older and more curious about the Ancient Days, I kept an eye on his growth."**

"How'd you survive Horakhty beating you?" snapped Jounouchi angrily. "She finished you when she blasted you with light."

**"Silly mortal! Did you honestly think she had permanently defeated me? All she did was rip me from my mortal shell and separate me into different entities. She then sealed those entities back into the Millennium Items with a seal to prevent them from ever rejoining."**

Anzu stared. "Then all this time…the Millennium Items' were containing different parts of you?" she cried, eyes wide.

**"Correct, woman," sneered Zorc. "In the brightest light, there is always a shadow that contrasts it. Horakhty temporarily drowned the shadow in light."**

"But how did Akira manage to find you?" asked Honda in a normal voice, for the wind had abruptly ceased and they were looking at Zorc fully; the shadows around him flickered like tongues of fire.

**"_He _did not find me. _I _found him," **sneered Zorc evilly. **"The folly of that man is infinitesimal. He has had no idea that I was within his soul; a dark deed such as killing his parents is enough to tear his soul and allow me access. He was originally afraid to go through with taking the lives of so many, but my influence, as well as the Orichalcos', was remarkable enough for him to forget his squeamishness."**

"I see what you did," said Atem quietly. "You manifested the darkness in his heart to the point where it clouded his soul and he no longer had any real control over his actions. It's what you did to Bakura and what the Orichalcos did to Dartz."

**"If my memory serves me correctly, Pharaoh, _you _also were corrupted by this Orichalcos. A truly dark and manipulative energy…it has been what has been feeding my strength all this time. The more souls Akira collected, the more powerful I became."**

"Like the Leviathan," supplied Dartz, a pained look in his eyes. "The Beast fed off of the strength of powerful souls."

**"Correct. But it seemed the pitiful mortal you call Akira made a mistake about his soul-gathering: the fool forgot that the souls had to be strong enough to withstand the test of the Millennium Items. It takes either a soul of great power or a soul of great evil to forge the Items. I am not as powerful as I once was, but that will change when I defeat the ones who dared stand against me."**

"Why do I get the feeling that he's talking to us?" muttered Noa under his breath.

Atem watched Zorc coldly, though his heart was pounding loudly. At the moment, the Egyptian knew that, although the being in front of him had limited power, had just enough to destroy Domino and the neighboring cities beyond. If they were going to defeat him, they were going to need a way to generate more _ka._

But without any more of the ancient Duel Disks, it seemed as if the odds were still stacked against them. And not one of the others in their group had their duel disks on them; Seto might possibly have his, but then again Atem had not seen it when they had been together.

And then, without warning, the mind link opened.

_Pharaoh, I think I have an idea. Do we have more of those ancient duel disks?_

**_That ground has already been covered, _**replied Atem wearily. **_Bakura and I have already discussed it. _**

_…I knew I should have brought my duel disk, _groaned Yugi. _If only there was some way to get more of the _ka _shelves…we might be able to fight if we had them._

**_I know. But we will have to make do with what we have now._**

Yugi had a point—if only they had enough of the golden duel disks, maybe they might stand a chance. But Atem had no way of procuring what they needed and he was running out of time.

That was when an idea hit him.

"Bakura…come here," he murmured softly, and all but the ancient thief missed the summons.

"Pharaoh, I hope you have something in mind," growled Bakura in a low voice. His eyes were flashing, regarding Zorc coldly.

**_Yugi, keep Zorc busy. Make him talk for as long as you can._**

"I do. But I need you to tell me if it will work…"

Atem barely registered Yugi asking Zorc another question, something about why he was here, before he quietly presented his idea to the silver haired man. When the shorter man finished, a feral gleam had lit up the thief's mahogany orbs. "It's _brilliant,_" he breathed, looking almost delighted—if one dared call it that.

"But will it work?"

"You'll need as many people up here as possible…which we roughly have. I suppose the Priest could be here, but beyond that I see no problem."

"What about restraint?"

"Oh…well, if you're so bothered about it, I'll do it."

"The last thing we need is for _you_ to snap."

"Please. I'll be fine."

**_"_****Well, bitty Pharaoh. You and the thief have been chatting for awhile now. I suppose you want to tell me what you're talking about," **said Zorc casually, seemingly delighted that Yugi jumped. **"Your other half tried to distract me, but he didn't quite make it."**

Atem said nothing for a long moment before his eyes made contact with Zorc's and he said challengingly, "How would you like to play a Shadow Game?"

* * *

Well, wasn't life dandy.

When he had woken up that morning, he had expected a normal day, one filled with board meetings, phone calls, and the sound of fingers tapping on keyboards. Certainly, he hadn't been expecting to be in a car accident that had (almost) killed him and end up fighting for his brother's life.

But then again, Seto should have expected this the moment he had seen Atem.

It never failed—Yugi and his friends were magnets for trouble.

If someone wanted to contest that, Seto could show them the swirling black cloud at the top of the tower that he instinctively knew was bad news.

"Seto…what is that?" asked Mokuba, looking out the window at the building.

The brunette, outside of a minute glance, had deliberately not looked towards the former skyscraper. He had to focus on his own task, which he had fallen behind in (thanks to a certain imposter), and he was fairly sure that whatever was happening on the roof was going to sooner or later involve him in some way.

Which was why he was working now as fast as he could.

"Seto?"

"…Based on my past experiences, I would say that what we're seeing is a swirling vortex of doom that will somehow end up destroying the world and ending life as we know it," he replied flatly, his face deadpan.

Mokuba might have laughed, but he knew Seto was not joking.

The ebony-haired child looked over at his elder brother with something akin to worry on his face. He did not like the fact that his stepbrother was in the same building that had the dark cloud above it, but it was not like he could do anything about it.

"Should we go up there?" he asked his elder brother, watching the cloud worriedly.

Seto frowned, watching the download bar on his computer slowly fill as the files were transferred to it. He would have liked to say that the pair of them should, but Seto was injured far more badly than he would ever admit aloud and Mokuba was also reeling from his own injuries. Instead, he replied, "Not at the moment. We may head up there once Roland and the police arrive."

The sound of sirens filled the air.

"…Well, Mokuba, guess what we're doing?"

* * *

"Did you hear that?"

Raphael's tired but alert voice broke Alister out from the dazed, numb stupor he'd been in since they'd found Valon, and the redhead glanced up at his older friend. The blonde looked close to collapse from exhaustion, and Alister was certain that he looked about the same, but then he forced himself to focus on Raphael's sentence and he frowned.

They had made it outside and had begun heading to the edge of the trees when Raphael had spoken up; now they both paused and listened for whatever sound had been heard. Of course, Alister could hear the sound of police and ambulance sirens that were growing closer, the rumbling of thunder, and the sound of the former prisoners as they cried out in shock at—

What _were _they crying out at? Alister turned around to see what the others saw, wondering if it boded ill-will.

As his gaze followed the crowd's, he realized he hadn't been hearing thunder.

"Raphael…" he said warningly, pointing to the top of the tower.

The blonde turned, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the skyscraper. What on earth could possibly go wrong now? They had been through so much already—the search for Valon, the kidnappings, finding Valon in that room…what next? What else could they be put through?

Aloud, he said, "That never bodes well."

"What do we do?"

Raphael knew that the question was directed at the both of them. The two bikers had almost nothing left, worn out physically and emotionally, and there was the matter of what to do about Valon.

At that thought, he glanced down at the unmoving brunette in his arms. He felt that Valon would have returned to help Yugi and his friends, regardless of his own condition; he could almost hear the spunky Australian's voice yelling out, "What else is there _to_ do, mates? We gotta go back in 'ere, that's what!"

Alister, he noted, was also looking at Valon silently. Their eyes met, and they nodded. They knew what to do.

Hesitantly, Raphael began to slowly walk to a group of people congregated by the trees; they were apparently welcoming another group, one that had just exited the building. He felt reluctant to approach them, but he had to.

Valon could not come with them this time.

* * *

_He was nameless. He was nothing, trapped in this realm of darkness and doomed to forever float here…he did not exist and he was—_

_He_ _did exist. He had to, otherwise he wouldn't know that._

"Bre…"

_What? Who's there?_

_Nothing there. It might be the fragments of a dream…many of those plagued him here…what were they about?_ _He could not remember…red liquid, agonized expressions…he didn't want to see those images…so to protect himself he'd forget again…it would better if he did._

No…

_A strange sound escaped his throat, forming a…a word. He said it again, with more conviction._

No.

_A flicker of two gently smiling faces…what was that…no, who was that…? Darkness closing in…dragging him down…no. _

**NO!**

_He stopped descending. Now he began to fall…fall upwards…no, that wasn't it. What was the word he was looking for?_

_Rising. That was the word—he was rising._

_He was rising. And if he was being lifted up, it meant that this darkness wasn't eternal, because rising meant that there was something beyond the black. There was a way to escape this darkness, after all._

_More thoughts returned as he rose. They hovered around him, giving him the strength to keep going; the darkness was alleviating, starting to get brighter as he traveled upward._

_He wasn't a part of this place; he was different—separate. He was someone. He was—_

_Who was he?_

"Brea…on…"

_Something was pulling him upwards. He didn't know what, but it sounded like a voice—was it someone he knew? He focused on it, hoping it would pull him from this nightmarish realm. He may have been trapped here temporarily for some reason, but this was not all there was, because there was something beyond this wretched place—there was a_ something _calling out to him…_

_He was fighting to find the energy to rise. It had become his lifeline, the one thing pulling him through the dark. What was making him return, he wondered. Was it something…important?_

_New strength arrived. The closer he got to the surface, the stronger he felt, and the more like … himself. He _did _exist, he_ did _have a purpose, he had…What else did he have?_

_Then he remembered. He had nothing. Everyone he cared about was dead. He should just stay here…only emptiness was here. No thought, no feeling, no purpose, no…_

'elp…'elp, someone…please…

_More words tumbled blindly from his mouth. He fought again, thrashing against the darkness holding him down, fighting to get up again and keep going. He clung to anything he could, struggling to meet the surface again. There was something there…_

_The face of a blonde haired man flitted in his memory._

_That man…who was it? It wasn't himself, certainly…it didn't seem like that was him. Who was it, then, that kept coming in and out of his memories? He knew that face…but the name associated with that man were trapped in the fog within his own mind._

_A name tickled at his mind…not Raul, not Ralph…wait, that last one was close…_

Raph.

_The name stirred something within him, making him claw for the surface once more. That name…it was important to him…but there was someone else, too. Someone as equally important…he had a name, too…it began with an 'A'…Allen? Alphonse…? No, none of those were right…but it began with the letter 'A'..._

Alister.

_The two faces he'd seen earlier…they were supposed to be dead, right?_

_Was_ he _dead?_

"Breat…lon…"

_That voice again…not Raph's or Alister's…whose was it…? A woman's voice…one who was worried about him…she was here somewhere, in this abyss…but where? Everywhere he looked, there was only darkness. She was telling him something…it was something important…_

_Alister…Raph…_

"Breath…alon…"

_The woman…_Mother Mary…

_And then, he fought with everything he had. He had to push, had to get out…this place was not where he was supposed to be…he didn't…_I don' belong 'ere!

_The darkness was alleviating, getting brighter and brighter as he rose. The black turned into midnight…into gray…into light gray…_

_Pain. All through his body, pain. _

_His chest was on fire, pressure building inside of him. And after feeling nothing, the pain was white-hot. His throat…something was missing…he needed to do something to return to white…but what was it?_

"Breathe, Valon."

* * *

Granted, the two of them had seen many unexplained happenings.

Both Alister and Raphael had watched the 'wonders' of the Orichalcos at work, they had seen people lose their souls, had almost brought about the Apocalypse, for pity's sake. Strangeness was not unfamiliar to them. They both had learned a valuable life lesson, based off of what they had seen: _if you see a glowing object, run as fast as you can in the other direction._

…Okay, that was not quite the lesson in mind. It kind of ran more along the line of, "expect the unexpected."

Up until now, their minds had gone numb with grief and pain, the loss of Valon fresh and painful in their hearts. They had completely forgotten about the lesson they had learned, though they had been briefly reminded by the darkness over the skyscraper that towered above them.

But then again, neither had ever seen a person return to life.

Until now.

With an audible gasp and a jerk, Valon's limp body convulsed in Raphael's arms, his back arching slightly before sinking back down. He coughed and wheezed, panting as if he'd run a long and hard race; color once more flooded the boy's ivory cheeks. He moaned and then lay still again, his breathing harsh and slow.

Raphael nearly dropped Valon out of shock. Alister's face lost color as he stared wordlessly at the teen in his friend's arms. They both looked at each other before looking down at their third companion. Surely they had been hallucinating…they were tired, after all, and they were wounded. It was enough of a reason to assume that they were dreaming what had just happened out of longing for Valon to be alive.

Yet, for precaution's sake, Raphael bent down and carefully set Valon down on his back, checking the younger man's vital signs. He paled at the result.

"Alister…he's…he's _alive._"

The redhead mutely sank down beside him but did not make an attempt to mirror Raphael's actions. He trusted the blonde in this situation.

Another moan came from the teen, and both of them stared at Valon as the boy's eyes pried themselves halfway open; they could not make themselves move, even if they wanted to. The Australian muttered something incoherent, tried to sit up, then fell back with a hiss of pain.

The movement forced Raphael into action.

"Lie still," he said gently, his eyes burning with relief. "You'll hurt yourself worse."

The boy didn't respond to him at first; he was far out of it, though he was conscious. His mouth opened and closed mutely, its owner fighting to put into words what it was that he wanted—though the older bikers knew exactly what Valon was asking.

"We're here, Valon," said Raphael softly, his blue eyes full of disbelieving joy and relief. "We're really here."

There was a long pause as Valon stared at them with blank cerulean eyes, uncomprehending at first. But then, with a herculean effort, the boy reached with a shaking hand beseechingly towards the two older men; it must have been taking him every single ounce of his will power to hold his hand in the air.

And the desired effect of that gesture worked.

Raphael reacted swiftly, catching the brunette's hand with a gentleness that seemed impossible for one of his build. Beside him, Alister had mimicked the gesture with an equal speed, and he too held the boy's hand. Two faces broke into identical relieved smiles as they gazed down at him.

"…It…really _is _you… this time…" murmured Valon faintly, his face breaking into a weaker version of his trademark smile. His voice was barely above a hoarse whisper, and Raphael had to strain to hear his voice.

"You're alive," said Alister, looking distinctly unsettled.

Valon gave a weak but dark chuckle. "Never…quite dead…to begin with…Orichalcos…"

Raphael understood the rest of the sentence. "Akira took your soul with the Orichalcos," he said, comprehending immediately what had happened. The Australian had not died, though his soul had taken a leave of absence; if the shock of losing his soul had not killed him, Valon would have certainly died shortly afterward because of the condition his body was in.

Valon shifted weakly in Raphael's arms. "Not…really sure…how I got back…" he mumbled tiredly. He looked at them, his eyes slipping in and out of focus. "What…kept ya, fellas?"

"Believe it or not, we couldn't find you. Akira was inconsiderate enough to not leave us a map telling us where you were," replied Alister flatly, though his eyes betrayed the sheer volume of relief in them.

Valon understood Alister's concern that was hidden by that remark, though he gave no indication of it. "'ey…I could take 'em…"

Raphael knew what was going to be said next. And Alister did not disappoint him when he replied, "Which is why you had the stuffing knocked out of you—because you could 'take 'em'."

"'S'not liked they fought fair…they 'ad pipes 'n' knives 'n' whatnot…" Valon replied drowsily, his eyelids drooping. The Australian's breathing was evening out slowly and his eyes were closing now, but he continued to drowsily smile up at them.

The smile remained on his face, only fading when the teen slipped back into unconsciousness. For a moment, alarm lit Raphael's and Alister's features, fearing the worst. But then they relaxed when they saw Valon was still breathing.

"Was he dead to begin with?" asked Alister gently

Raphael looked over at the redhead in surprise; Alister had checked Valon's vital signs, too, and he knew the answer behind that question.

"It could very well be that he was; I certainly couldn't find a pulse when I was examining him," he said carefully. "But then again, he could have come back any time afterword. It wasn't like we checked periodically."

"How did his soul come back?"

Raphael was silent for a moment longer before he said quietly, "To be honest, I don't know. The only ways for his soul to return was if someone let him go or if he fought it off himself."

"Do you think Dartz helped?" asked Alister in just as quiet as a voice.

Raphael shrugged. "I don't know…it looks like they're up on the roof, so I have no idea how that happened."

Alister was quiet for a long moment, and then he said, "I'm glad he's back, no matter how he got here."

"Same here," replied Raphael gruffly, managing to keep his voice level.

After a few more moments of relieved silence, the two bikers looked up at the building with grim looks, the relieved looks fading. "Should we go up there?" asked Alister at length, conflict in his eyes. He did not want to leave Valon, but he also knew that at this point he was useless in a fight. He looked to Raphael for a decision. If the blonde went, he would go as well.

Raphael continued to gaze up at the skyscraper for one minute longer before he replied, "I don't think we'll manage to get up there in time to be anything more than a hindrance. All we can do now is stay down here and hope for the best."

The blonde did not seem happy at the decision, but he knew that he was too wiped out to be of any help to the Pharaoh.

They continued to watch the darkening sky worriedly before Alister noticed that several ambulances and police cars had arrived. He could see Seto and Mokuba talking to one of the paramedics, and he tapped Raphael's shoulder to call attention to the medical vans. Raphael understood and began to make a beeline for them, leaving Alister behind to care for their youngest friend.

Valon needed a doctor in the worst way, and while he had come back from wherever he had previously been before it did not mean that the spunky teenager was strong enough to remain with them for long.

They had lost Valon once. They had no intention of doing so again.

* * *

**"Another Shadow Game, Pharaoh?"** Zorc asked calmly, though the murderous gleam in his eye had returned.

"No doubt you're bored. You had to put up with Akira for a fairly long time," said Atem in just as calm of a voice, ignoring the mingled looks around him.

Honda, Otogi, and Noa all stared in disbelief at the Pharaoh, thinking the same thought: _Another one of these games?_ They had barely managed to snap the Pharaoh out of it last time, and that had not even been them—that had been all Yugi. Now the other side of Yugi was challenging Zorc to another Shadow Game? What was going on?

Jounouchi, Anzu, and Dartz had no idea what the Pharaoh was planning, but they knew that tone of voice and trusted that he would not betray them. Two of them had heard that voice time and time again, and they knew Atem was on the right track; the final one in that group had been beaten by him.

Ryou, although worried-looking, had been filled in on the Pharaoh's plan already via Bakura, and was staring up at Zorc with as much determination as he could muster. Yugi had been the second person that Atem had informed of his plan, so he also was not as worried.

**"Intriguing, Pharaoh. I see what you are trying to do—you think that you can defeat me in numbers, correct? You and your pitiful companions think you stand a chance against me?"**

"I don't think it—I _know_ it. Are you afraid to lose, Zorc?" replied Atem in a cold voice.

**"**The creature of darkness looked intrigued. **"You've gotten defiant, Pharaoh. But then again, you are correct in the fact I am bored. Akira was not much for entertainment, I must admit. What are the boundaries of this Shadow Game?"**

"The same thing that we did last time we met in the Memory World—all of us," said Atem, gesturing around him at the people gathered there, "against you. If we win, the souls that you have gathered using the Orichalcos will be released."

**"If you lose, all of the ones who have participated in this Shadow Game forfeit their souls—including the Atlantean. Which reminds me…"** Zorc trailed off, casually waving a hand toward Dartz.

A tendril of darkness lashed out at the green-haired man before anyone could react, cracking as loudly as a whip as it struck him across the chest. Dartz did not even make a sound as he fell back heavily, clutching the newly bleeding wound with a free hand. Jounouchi, who was closest, was forced to catch him.

Dartz's golden eyes glazed slightly, but his gaze remained hardened as he looked back at Zorc. He made no effort, however, to say anything; it seemed that the blow had hurt him a lot more than had been previously indicated.

"What was that for?" shouted Anzu indignantly. Although she had never quite forgiven the man, she was not about to condone the fact that he had been maliciously attacked.

**"That was for releasing one of the captured souls behind my back. Did you think that I was not aware of what you did?"**

"You released one of the souls? How?" asked Honda in disbelief.

"And why?" asked Jounouchi.

Dartz shot them both a quick look and then struggled to his feet, declining any help that they offered. "Who it was is my business and mine alone," he replied simply. "And as for how, I once manipulated the Orichalcos myself. I have not forgotten, though it has been awhile since I touched it."

Atem turned to angrily regard Zorc. The creature had injured Dartz severely on purpose; Atem felt justified in claiming that the evil being was worried about being defeated and had deliberately incapacitated one of their group.

As if reading his mind, Zorc chuckled darkly and said, **"Oh dear. It seems like the Bitty Pharaoh's group is down by one member. I will tell you what: since I am in a generous mood, I will give you a replacement for him."**

"You aren't seriously telling me that you expect us to trust whoever it is that you give us? Seeing how as you're Evil Incarnate, I wouldn't trust you if you were the last thing on earth," retorted Noa. "Anyone you create is not going to be on our side; how do we know that you won't be manipulating them in battle?"

**"That is an interesting point, little boy," **said Zorc coolly.

"Watch it, Grandpa," snapped Noa.

Zorc seemed to be ignoring him as he said, **"I will give you an ally to help you, people who are familiar with you and that you can trust."**

The man in shadows snapped his fingers. Almost immediately afterward, what looked like a warped version of a bubble separated from the darkness and flew off to its unknown destination.

**"Wait a moment for it to bring you your new ally,"** continued Zorc in a bored tone.

Nearly five minutes later, the bubble returned and hovered above the group before dissolving and releasing the person that had been inside. Jounouchi barely had any time to react before the figure fell on top of him.

"Get offa me!" snapped the blonde teenager angrily, shoving the offending person off of him before he gasped, "You!"

"Yes. Me. You have a problem with that?" asked Seto bluntly, his blue eyes conveying annoyance. Ignoring the other teen, he strode over to where Noa was standing and quietly began checking his condition.

"Are you all right?" asked Anzu.

Seto snorted. "I'm fine. I was going to come up here with a helicopter, but then the bubble of doom carted me off and here I am," he replied sarcastically, ignoring Noa's protests as he continued to check his condition. When Seto finished, he looked up at the swirling mass of darkness before turning to Atem. "I'm going to guess that the thing in front of us is Akira."

"_Was _Akira," said Bakura flatly. When Seto frowned in confusion, he rolled his eyes and said, "Zorc decided to take over Akira because he's evil like that."

Seto narrowed his eyes, and though he went a slight shade paler he said nothing further.

**"Did my choice please you, little boy?" **asked Zorc, eyes glittering with malice.

Noa scowled. "Call me little boy one more time…I dare you."

"And what do you think you will be able to do against him?" asked Jounouchi, amusement glittering in his brown eyes.

"The same thing I'll do to you if you don't shut up."

**"All right, Pharaoh. You have your ally—and now it is time for our game to begin,"** said Zorc, anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

The idly twisting shadows around him suddenly launched outward, completely engulfing the group and the roof top in a perfect sphere. At the same moment, the entire group—minus Dartz, Bakura, and Atem—gained a golden version of their duel disks.

Bakura mutely summoned Diabound once more, and Atem called out the Black Magician. Anzu, Honda, Jounouchi, Yugi, and Seto wasted no time in summoning their own monsters.

"Fire Sorceress!"

"Cyber Commando!"

"Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

"Silent Swordsman!"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Nor did Ryou or Noa, once they figured out what to do.

"Dark Necrofear!"

"Shinato!"

Dartz frowned, not wishing to be left out of this battle. Even though his entire being ached and had almost nothing left, this mess was something that had resulted from him. He would rather have the Leviathan consume the world than not fight. He attempted to summon his Mirror Knight once more when the Pharaoh's voice stopped him.

"You've done enough, Dartz. Now, it's my turn."

The Atlantean looked once at the Pharaoh, golden eyes meeting with violet. For a long moment, neither said anything. But then Dartz broke it with a simple, "Do not underestimate me, Pharaoh. I'll be watching and waiting for a chance to join the battle."

Atem nodded once, to show he understood. Then he turned to his friends and quietly asked, "Are you all ready for this?"

"If we weren't, none of us would be here," replied Yugi firmly. Jounouchi shot the Pharaoh a grin of confirmation, but said nothing.

"Yugi's right, Atem. We are here to fight alongside you," said Anzu with a smile.

"I'm not," retorted Bakura flatly. He rounded on Ryou, eyes flashing, and snarled, "There had better be a lifetime supply of pocky heading my way!"

Ryou sighed, while Otogi and Honda stifled their laughter. "There might be, if we don't end up dead," he said, deciding not to promise anything until the task at hand was done.

Seto and Noa chose not to say anything, but their eyes told Atem all that he needed to know: _"We are here to fight."_

An unexplainable hush abruptly fell, and neither side spoke. They all silently regarded each other warily, waiting to see who would make the first move. The shadows twisted softly in the night air, making a gentle hissing sound as they wound around the roof; the sound of the police sirens had been drowned out by the oppressive darkness.

It was Zorc who broke the silence first, a twisted leer on his face. He only spoke one sentence.

**"Let the battle begin."**


	16. Battle

_All right guys, buckle up._

_Originally, this was going to be all in one chapter. However, I decided to split this chapter into two parts; part one is what you're reading. Part two should be posted by next Monday, barring any unforeseeable circumstances. This means that I lied earlier when I said this was the second to last chapter; you're getting two chapters within a few days, look at it that way._

_So...dig in._

* * *

At Zorc's words, everyone bristled and then called out in one voice, "ATTACK!!"

In response to their master's commands, the summoned monsters let loose with a volley of their strongest attacks. The offensive move made a beeline for Zorc and struck home with a loud explosion and ensuing tremors. Smoke obscured Zorc from their vision and Jounouchi cried out, "We got 'im!"

But then, the smoke cleared and everyone gasped in disbelief.

The shadows had formed a barrier around their target; not one attack had managed to crack the shield. There was a dark laugh as Zorc re-materialized. He was no longer human height; he had actually grown to about half of his normal size, and the shadows on him were beginning to solidify into his true form. He grinned evilly. **"Nice try, but the same trick does not work twice."**

Bakura snarled, sending Diabound forward to attack. The Black Magician and the Blue Eyes White Dragon followed suit, flying directly in Zorc's line of vision and sending out powerful blasts of lightning and magic. Zorc carelessly put up a barrier that knocked the mage and the dragon to the ground, frowning when he realized that he had lost track of Diabound.

Behind Zorc, the creature he sought after lunged from the shadows and wrapped its massive arms around the shadowy figure. At the same moment, the Red Eyes Black Dragon, Fire Sorceress, and Shinato let loose with another volley of attacks, aimed directly at where his heart was.

**"It isn't going to be that easy,"** said Zorc coldly, erecting another shadow barrier and forcing the attacks to rebound. The assembled monsters managed to duck out of the way in time, though they barely avoided destruction. With a laugh, Zorc grabbed at one of Diabound's arms with his taloned fingers and squeezed it tightly. Bakura's _ka_ struggled and pulled away, letting out a screech of pain as it went.

A strangled scream from Bakura told the rest of the group that one of Bakura's arms was badly injured. To confirm it, Diabound's right arm hung limply at its side, blood pouring from several open wounds; the creature was keening in pain, its whine low but audible.

Bakura swore softly in Egyptian, cradling his arm as best as he could to avoid increasing the pain. Ryou hurried over to him, ripping off his shirt sleeve as he went. When Yugi and Anzu began to move as well to assist, Ryou said, "No! I'll take care of him! Keep fighting!"

The white-haired boy looked up at his _ka _and ordered, "Defend Diabound!" In reply, Dark Necrofear swung forward to guard Diabound, her dark eyes grim and determined. Once Ryou was certain that she was able to fight, he set about constructing a temporary bandage.

Yugi gave Ryou a quick thumbs-up, then called out to his Silent Swordsman, "Attack Zorc's eyes!"

The smaller swordsman leaped forward to do its master's bidding, but a powerful blast of dark magic sent the monster reeling backward. Cyber Commando came from out of nowhere and managed to catch him.

"You okay, Yugi?" asked Honda, his hazel eyes flashing.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay," replied Yugi shakily, out of breath.

Meanwhile, Otogi realized that he had a problem: he had not received one of the duel disks. He hadn't noticed earlier since he had assumed he had gotten one, but when he had tried summoning his own monster Otogi realized what had happened. "Pharaoh! I'm kinda in a jam here!" he cried.

Atem looked over at Otogi and saw what the raven-haired teen was talking about. But he had no time to react or to think—his Black Magician had been caught in Zorc's grip and was slowly being crushed. He sank to his knees, trying to breathe.

"Red Eyes!"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Twin balls of lightning—one white, the other black—made contact with Zorc's arm, exploding loudly as they collided. Zorc was forced to release the Black Magician, his hand smoking; Atem regained his breath and rose to his feet slowly.

"Take that, you big windbag!" crowed Jounouchi, punching the air with his fist.

Seto merely snorted, though his own eyes were speaking louder than words.

"Funny, Seto—I thought Yugi was your lifetime rival," called Noa as Shinato's lightning struck an area on the recently blasted arm; the area briefly turned to stone before the shadows rolled over it and obscured the site from view.

"He's not Yugi," retorted Seto flatly, eyes narrowing.

Anzu had spotted the shadows moving, and her eyes widened. "Did Zorc just heal himself?" she asked in disbelief, watching as Fire Sorceress shot a fireball at Zorc's face. It was deflected and rebounded; the witch dodged it and it crashed into the ground near them.

"What?!" yelped Jounouchi, his brown eyes locking onto the same spot Anzu was looking at. He swore loudly. "How are we s'pposed to beat this thing, if every time we hit him he heals?!"

"We'll figure something out," said Yugi grimly, watching as his Silent Swordsman cut off one of Zorc's fingers. The shadows swarmed around the wound and a new finger regrew in its stead.

Atem, meanwhile, had gone to Otogi to figure out why the other teen had not received a duel disk. He had a suspicion that Zorc had—once again—tried to cripple their forces. "Are you sure you didn't receive one?" he asked.

Otogi nodded in annoyance. "I'm sure. How come I didn't get one?"

"Zorc believes that there would be one too many opponents if your friend had one," said Dartz weakly, sitting up straighter; because of his condition, he had been forced to hobble to the elevator door and sit back against it. Otogi had doubled back once he realized that he had no monster to fight, knowing full good and well that he was useless for the moment until he had some method of defense.

Atem's eyes narrowed angrily. There was not much he could do to change the situation, and it was not as if anyone had a spare one to lend Otogi. When he voiced that aloud, Otogi nodded grimly and said, "I figured as much. I hate being useless, though," he growled angrily.

Dartz sighed heavily, slipping the ancient Egyptian artifact off of his arm and handing it to the raven haired teen. "Take it. I can't use it at the moment anyway—I've done all I can do."

Atem glanced sharply at the Atlantean, taking in his condition. The man was paler than he had been previously and his eyes were clouding with pain. He was clutching the area on his chest where Zorc had attacked him; blood was seeping through his hand. Atem frowned.

Turning to Otogi, he said, "Help Yugi and the others. I'll be along in a minute."

The Black Magician flew away from the battle as Otogi's Orguss replaced him. The black haired young man hurried forward, emerald eyes flashing. His monster leapt to the defense of Fire Sorceress, blocking a rebounding attack with his shield. Anzu looked around at him and smiled. "It's about time you joined the battle!" she called.

Atem did not focus on the battle after that, looking at Dartz with a critical eye. "Dartz, are you all right?" he asked quietly.

Dartz's eyes were unemotional for a moment before stating just as quietly, "To say that I am unharmed would be a lie. I also would be lying if I said that I am fine and fit for battle."

Both of them turned, watching as Shinato was caught in Zorc's grip and was being crushed. "You don't have time to worry about me. You need to focus on the battle at hand and ignore me entirely." Dartz's voice was matter-of-fact.

Atem nodded slowly, watching as the other man tilted his head against the wall and shut his eyes. After a slight bit of hesitation, he wordlessly left Dartz's side and sent the Black Magician forth. The mage rejoined the battle in time to rescue Noa's Shinato from Zorc's grasp.

"Thanks!" called Noa, rubbing at his chest to relieve the pressure.

Atem glanced over at his assembled companions, checking their conditions with his eyes. Yugi was relatively unscathed, as was Ryou; his Hikari had been defending Bakura, blocking any rebounding attacks directed at them while Ryou had made a make-shift bandage for Bakura's wounded arm. The tomb robber's arm was injured very badly, from the look of things—blood was soaking the cloth and still pouring down from the deep cut.

Jounouchi looked like he had been punched in the face; one side of his face was swollen and he had a bloody nose, though he was already tending to it. Honda's left hand was bloody, and he had an open gash above his right eye. Anzu was keeping all of her weight off her right foot and her right cheek had a scratch on it.

Seto's and Noa's conditions had not worsened at all, from the looks of it, but he could tell that they were more worn out than they looked. Otogi, who had just joined the battle, was fresh and uninjured. Atem himself had gained no new wounds since the battle had begun, but his Black Magician was still favoring one leg.

Atem turned his attention back to the battle as a tendril of shadow abruptly lashed out at the Fire Sorceress. He sent his Black Magician to defend, his eyes narrowing. The blonde witch barely avoided the attack, and the Black Magician also managed to avoid damage.

"Atem! This guy just heals himself every time we try to damage to him!" called Honda, hissing as a tendril of shadow scraped Cyber Commando's shoulder. "What do we do?"

"Keep trying, Honda! That's all we can do!" snapped Jounouchi, speaking for Atem as he sent his Red Eyes Black Dragon forth. He growled angrily as another shadow shield intercepted his attack and sent the dragon's attack back at the group. Instantly, everyone moved out of the way, barely avoiding getting hit.

As Atem regained his feet, he studied Zorc, seeking out his weakness. There had to be one…Zorc was not at his full strength yet, he could not counter very much. But with all the darkness and shadows surrounding him, the Egyptian could not see anything beneficial…

Wait a moment.

Atem studied Zorc closely, watching the way the shadows were shifting on the entity's body, and noticed that they seemed to form a solid mass in a few areas: a small area on Zorc's leg, two moderately sized spots on his torso, and one barely noticeable spot on his neck. Atem was certain that there were more similar areas on Zorc's back.

"Black Magician, attack!" he cried, pointing at the area on Zorc's chest where it seemed to be the most solid.

This time, when the black light of the mage's spell hit it, the shadows did not roll over it and hide the area, which had charred and burned from the blow. Zorc's eyes flickered uneasily, but beyond that gave not much of an indication that he had gotten hurt.

Atem was not the only one who saw that look.

Jounouchi had kept on attacking, keeping an eye out for his own friends, and had watched the Black Magician launch his attack and the aftermath. Seto had also seen the damage left behind. The two teens exchanged glances and simultaneously ordered their dragons to attack that same spot.

Yugi had arrived at that conclusion a split second after Seto had ordered the attack, and he called out to his friends, "Guys, attack the solid areas on his body! They don't heal!"

With that shout still ringing in the air, everyone focused their attacks on the areas that they could see was solid. Zorc genuinely grimaced and growled under his breath at every direct hit.

"We've got him!" cried Anzu in delight as her Fire Sorceress burned a part of Zorc's back. The blonde witch nimbly dodged the retaliatory swipe directed at her and flew back to where Anzu was standing.

"I'll second that!" agreed Honda ecstatically, cheering when the missile launched from his own monster landed on a spot that was solid.

The attacks continued for a few moments, occasionally getting deflected and rebounding back at the assembled group; the teens, however, kept scattering and re-grouping, and no one was injured any further at the moment.

However, after the light from one of Shinato's attacks faded, Zorc's face twisted into a unpleasant leer. **"Things are far too easy for you so far,"** he said with an evil gleam in his red eyes. **"Let's see how well you do when you're up against more than one opponent."**

Before anyone could ask Zorc what that was supposed to mean, there was a burst of green light that blinded them temporarily. When the light faded, the group found themselves face to face with growling Orichalcos soldiers.

"Our luck cannot be _that _bad," groaned Noa.

"Guess what? It is," said Seto grimly, ordering his dragon to blast away a group of Orichalcos soldiers that had been about to overwhelm Honda.

Bakura growled in fury. "Diabound, keep attacking Zorc!" he snarled, swaying unsteadily on his feet as he clutched his arm. The beast roared, sending an attack at a vulnerable spot on Zorc's chest.

Ryou and Yugi, meanwhile, were keeping Bakura covered as Dark Necrofear and Silent Swordsman attacked the Orichalcos monsters. Anzu's Fire Sorceress sent a wave of fire aimed at Zorc's leg before Anzu yelped as an Orichalcos soldier grabbed her around the waist.

"Anzu!" cried Jounouchi sharply, calling his Red Eyes Black Dragon back to help her. But when the monster gripping her abruptly disintegrated, he blinked in confusion. "What just happened?" he asked.

Atem, who had also been hurrying to Anzu's aid, turned to where Dartz had been resting. The Atlantean had risen to his feet shakily and his hand was outstretched to where Anzu was; one of his eyes had turned an aquamarine color.

"Pharaoh, I'll keep the soldiers from attacking you directly—focus your attention on Zorc," he said, slightly panting from the effort he had exerted.

Atem nodded, trusting his former enemy with the task as he returned his attention to the battle field. They all had a long way to go before this battle was over.

A _very _long way to go.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the ground below, things were not much better.

Akira's previous prisoners had all been taken to the hospital for examination, via a police van. The former DOOM soldiers themselves were in an ambulance, about to head out as well to get to the hospital; Mokuba was with them, mainly because Seto had made him go (had Mokuba seen that his brother had been carted off by a dark bubble, he would have stayed put, but the child had not).

It should be noted that the vehicle containing all the victims made it safely to the hospital without any further incident happening to the poor people.

Not so much love for the rest of the policemen.

Orichalcos soldiers began to materialize down on the ground and had proceeded to start attacking the policemen remaining; so far, none of them had lost their souls to the creatures, but no one was sure how much longer their luck was going to hold. It seemed that their riot batons and pistols were effective against the creatures, and they fought to hold them back and defeat them. The creatures, however, had blocked the road as well, preventing anyone else from leaving or entering the area.

Inside the ambulance, Raphael growled angrily, not yet aware of what had made the vehicle stop moving. "What's going on out there?" he demanded.

The nurse that was finishing up re-stitching his shoulder murmured, "All done," and he carefully put his shirt back on and pulled on his duster (both of which had to be removed for the nurse to tend to him). All the while, he was looking at the driver for an explanation, not liking the fact that he hadn't received a reply.

He could tell that something was in the road, but from his vantage point he could not see what it was. The blonde craned his neck to try and see over the driver's seat, barely acknowledging the attendant as she cut the thread and made her way to evaluate Alister.

The other DOOM biker looked up as well, standing up after a moment's pause and slipping past the orderlies that were tending to Valon to see through the windshield; Mokuba glanced over at the redhead worriedly from where he sat. "Alister, why'd we stop?" the child asked.

The gray-eyed young man didn't respond at first, which told Raphael almost immediately that something was wrong. Then Alister was moving, muttering, "This can_not_ be happening," as he made a beeline for the back hatch of the ambulance.

"Alister?" asked Mokuba, a hint of alarm in his voice, "What's wrong?"

"…Orichalcos soldiers are out in the road. They're blocking the way back to the city," replied the red-haired man angrily. He was already at the back of the van, fumbling with the hatch. "Why does _everybody_ today want to make our lives miserable?"

"Alister, where are you going?" asked Raphael sharply, rising to his feet unsteadily.

"Where else? To try and stop them," retorted Alister, still struggling with the hatch. "Valon needs to get to the hospital."

From the front seat, the driver gave an alarmed cry, and the whole ambulance suddenly lurched. Alister was knocked off balance and fell to the floor, hitting his head violently on the side of the ambulance wall. At the same moment, the back door was pulled off and several Orichalcos soldiers leered in at them. One of them reached in for Valon's limp body.

Raphael reacted first, pulling the unconscious teen into his arms—making sure he did not pull away any of the medical equipment attached to the boy—and kicking the now vacant stretcher out at the monsters in one fluid motion; the creatures fell back with cries of pain. One of them, however, managed to grab Mokuba by the ankle and dragged the boy out of the ambulance before anyone could do anything.

Alister, who had been temporarily dazed by the fall, saw Mokuba's body fly past him and he sprang to his feet. Leaping out onto its back, he caught the offending creature around the neck; it released Mokuba and grabbed Alister around his waist.

"Mokuba, run!" shouted the lanky biker, holding on all the more tightly as the monster tried to tug him off. He winced as a taloned hand dug deep into his injured torso.

The ebony-haired child needed no further warning as he scrambled back into the ambulance. The monster succeeded in pulling Alister off of its back and threw him to the ground violently before advancing to the vehicle once more. Raphael eyes narrowed in warning, his grip on Valon tightening. He readied himself to fight, but Alister was not yet done.

The slender young man sprang back onto his feet and tackled the monster once again. "_Leave them alone!" _snarled Alister, eyes flashing.

"Alister!" Raphael growled, carefully depositing Valon on the bench he had been sitting on.

Noticing that the road was clear (because the creatures blocking it were gathered behind the ambulance), he ordered the stunned driver to take Valon to the hospital before he too leapt out; the shocked orderlies snapped out of the terrified stupor they'd been in and resumed treating the Australian teen once more, though one of them brandished a fire extinguisher and looked ready to whack someone with it.

The youngest Kaiba made a movement to get out as well, but the blonde biker would have nothing of it. "Mokuba, stay put!" he said gruffly, grabbing a monster that was trying to get around the front of the ambulance to block its escape route. His shoulder erupted in fiery pain, but the burly man was not about to let go.

"But Raphael—!"

"Stay with Valon!" repeated Raphael with a hint of desperation in his voice, struggling to keep the Orichalcos monster away from the vehicle.

The child hesitated, and then nodded worriedly. He retreated into the vehicle, getting down beside the limp teenager as the ambulance sped off in the direction of the city. "I'll make sure he makes it!" called Mokuba over the roar of the engine.

Raphael watched it go briefly before shoving the monster away from him and running forward, placing himself between the retreating vehicle and the Orichalcos soldiers. Alister barely avoided being sliced by one of their swords and joined his older friend where he stood.

The monsters looked at them for a minute, growling and snarling. Raphael counted at least six soldiers that were staring back at them, but he wasn't unnerved. He didn't care how outmatched he was, nor how tired he was—there was not going to be a chance for the Orichalcos soldiers to attack Valon.

They had not been able to protect Valon before, and they had no intention of letting him get hurt again.

"Just try it," Raphael said to them coldly.

"We aren't letting you by without a fight," finished Alister, a steely glint in his gray eyes.

The two sides remained motionless for a minute longer. Then the monsters rushed forward and the world gave over into chaos.

* * *

"This is not FAIR!" roared Jounouchi angrily, ordering his dragon to defend Honda's Cyber Commando from the onslaught of the Orichalcos monsters.

"Life is not fair, Jounouchi—deal with it!" retorted Otogi, hissing as a green beam of light fired by an Orichalcos soldier scratched Orguss' left arm. He held his now cold and tingling arm close as he commanded his monster to retreat.

"Otogi! Are you okay?" asked Anzu, hurrying to check on his arm while her Fire Sorceress sent out a wave of fire toward a group of monsters.

The raven-haired teen grunted. "As okay as I'm going to be," he replied. Frowning when his arm continued to remain numb, he called out to the rest of the group, "Guys, don't let those green lights they're shooting hit you! I think they kill on contact!"

"Thanks for the warning!" called Noa, his Shinato barely avoiding a blast of light. When the danger was past, Noa ordered his monster to attack a weak spot on Zorc with a blast of lightening. Once again, the shadows swarmed and formed a protective barrier around Zorc, preventing the lightening from hitting him.

"Come on, already!" snapped Jounouchi irritably, nearly getting hit by both a green light and Shinato's rebounded attack. "Fight fair already, you big jerk!"

Seto actually rolled his eyes as another group of monsters was destroyed by Diabound's attack. "Yeah, let's ask the age-old Master of Evil to fight fairly in a battle," he called over to the blonde teen sarcastically.

Ryou and Yugi were fighting desperately to keep the Orichalcos monsters away from Bakura and Atem; both Egyptians were focusing intently on assaulting Zorc and defeating him. The two Hikaris had placed themselves back to back to prevent any attacks from behind, and their monsters, though occasionally launching an attack or two at Zorc, stayed in between their counterparts and the attacking monsters.

Dartz was doing a fairly decent job of keeping the soldiers at bay, despite his own injuries; in a similar fashion to Zorc's Shadow Shield, he was creating a barrier that was deflecting the beams of light coming from the Orichalcos soldiers and firing his own shafts of light at the beasts. He was only able to keep half of it away from the group, but at least he was trying.

Atem's Black Magician flew high above the chaos and attacked Zorc again and again with its magic, the black lights blending in with shadows around it. Seto's Blue Eyes White Dragon was assisting it, hitting Zorc with powerful blasts of white light, and Diabound was constantly attacking Zorc in any place it could reach.

Atem noticed it first; as more and more time passed, the limited areas where they could hit Zorc were expanding, more and more shadows solidifying into flesh and blood. Although most would see this as an advantage, it made him slightly uneasy—it told Atem that Zorc was getting stronger by the second.

"Bakura!" he called out to the silver haired thief, wondering if the other Egyptian could see it too.

"I know, Pharaoh!" retorted Bakura, having spotted it only a short time ago. "I'm doing the best that I can to kill him, but this is not a walk in the park!"

At its master's words, Diabound seemed to renew its powerful attacks and strike at any surface presented to its talons—solid or shadow. Black Magician also increased the tempo of its attacks, more and more spells contacting Zorc's body. Everyone else, although uncertain about what it was that Atem and Bakura could see, ordered their monsters to increase their attacks as well. The air was filled with the sound of muffled explosions and the sound of swords contacting flesh.

However, Zorc let out a dark laugh and repulsed all the attacks, causing them to rebound and make the group scatter once again. **"This is a lot more entertaining than last time, Bitty Pharaoh! It's doubly amusing that your pitiful attempts to weaken me are all failing."**

As he finished speaking, the shadows began to swarm around the creature, obscuring it from view. When the shadows cleared, the group made a horrific discovery: all the damage they had inflicted on Zorc's body was gone.

"What?!" cried Jounouchi, alarm flashing through his eyes.

"No…" murmured Anzu, her face ashen.

"That can't be," whispered Honda.

Otogi also paled, and Ryou and Yugi wore horrified expressions. Dartz and Seto had unreadable looks on their faces, while Noa and Bakura bore twin looks of incredulous fury.

Zorc chuckled darkly. **"Silly Mortals…did you honestly think that you could beat me that easily? That I would be defeated by your puny _ka_? Fools! The only thing that can do real damage to me would be the three Egyptian gods—and the Bitty Pharaoh now lacks the power to summon them."**

The previous sinking feeling that had been in the pit of Atem's stomach returned in full force. He'd known that fact…at the very beginning of this battle, he'd tried to feel for the powerful energy of either the Winged Dragon of Ra, Obelisk, or Osiris. Atem had not been able to even feel a glimmer of power. In fact, he thought to himself, it was almost as if...

A light of comprehension entered his eyes.

Atem knew why he couldn't call out the three gods.

Bakura's eyes narrowed dangerously up at Zorc. "Well, you're not much better off yourself! Even if you healed yourself and most of the Millennium Items are powerless, you still are only second rate. You are only half of what you used to be, you pompous windbag."

Zorc's eyes seemed to light up in sadistic delight. **"I'm surprised that none of you are asking me why I suddenly seem to be gaining more power."**

"It's on our to-do list!" snapped Noa coldly.

**"Bakura, this should be particularly enlightening to you; the souls Akira gathered are being channeled into my body, feeding my power and making it grow. It's funny, really—people that were useless in life are now being used to give me. Much like your village, isn't it?"**

The silence that fell then was one someone would associate with the moments before the beginning of a violent storm. All eyes were drawn to a certain white haired thief and unease filled them.

For good reason.

Bakura went pale at first, shaking slightly. Then his eyes became wide and feral, brown orbs shifting into crimson. "What…what did you…_useless_? My people…their lives…their flesh and blood power the Millennium Items, how dare you call them _useless?_ HOW DARE YOU?!" he thundered, sending Diabound forward with a snarl.

**"How ironic, Thief. The very Item you draw power from is powered by the souls of your people…Do they view you as a traitor, I wonder? Does _she _view this as betrayal?"**

"SHUT UP!" roared Bakura in sheer fury, his Diabound responding to the anger channeling through it by attacking Zorc in renewed strength.

Zorc lifted one great hand and easily swatted Diabound away, as if it were nothing but a fly. He let out another dark chuckle and unleashed another wave of shadow; Diabound had barely had a chance to recover from the blow it had taken, and was unprepared for the onslaught. The shadow wrapped constrictively around Diabound's throat and face, and Bakura doubled over, clawing at his throat for air.

It became quickly apparent that the old tomb raider needed help.

The rest of the group rejoined the battle, the green blasts of light from the Orichalcos soldiers and the attacks from their own monsters almost dizzying in the darkness. Diabound, still trapped in the suffocating mass of shadow, was blasted out of its prison by the Black Magician and Dark Necrofear; Bakura sank to his knees, coughing and wheezing.

"Don't need…your help…" he growled under his breath, shoving a concerned Ryou away from him.

Atem narrowed his eyes, watching as the silver haired teen opposite him struggled to get to his feet. He chose, however, not to say anything, instead focusing on the battle at hand—he knew better than to offer Bakura any assistance.

He knew why he couldn't summon one of the three Egyptian gods, but he was at a loss as to what he was supposed to do about that. Perhaps their appearance was linked to the Millennium Items—the lack of power the Items seemed to be suffering from could be a legitimate cause. But he had always thought that his own soul was the power behind them—maybe his return had caused his soul power to drain.

A pained cry startled Atem from his thoughts.

The Orichalcos soldiers had gotten tired from being held back and away from several strong souls, and they had come together to unleash one powerful blast of green light. Dartz, already weakened greatly and barely standing, had been unable to keep the barrier up. He flew backward off of his feet and hit the ground with a sickening thud.

He did not rise again.

"Dartz!" Yugi cried in alarm, sending his Silent Swordsman to defend the prone form from the sudden surge of Orichalcos soldiers. "Jounouchi, help!" he cried to the nearby teen.

The Red Eyes Black Dragon came almost immediately, the dragon destroying the first wave of soldiers while Silent Swordsman used his shield to deflect the blasts of the Orichalcos being fired at them. Jounouchi and Yugi carefully carried Dartz away from the chaos, laying him against the nearest wall before assuming a defensive position near him.

Dartz may have been their enemy once, but he had been helping them. They could at least return the favor.

Atem's eyes narrowed dangerously as he surveyed the limp body of the Atlantean. Akira's attacks earlier had all been focusing on the Pharaoh and Dartz, much to Bakura's earlier annoyance. It seemed that everything had finally caught up to Dartz; if it weren't for the faint rasps of breath from the man, the Egyptian would assume that he was dead.

One of Dartz's golden eyes cracked open, flashing in mild annoyance. "Stop…worrying…about me…" he rasped indignantly. His pale face flickered in pain, and he struggled wearily to his feet. "I'll be fine…"

"We know, we know," retorted Jounouchi, hurrying away to where he'd been standing by Honda. "If it weren't for the fact that I've heard that line multiple times today, I might believe you."

Atem couldn't help but be amused by that.

A flash of green light abruptly came from behind the Pharaoh, startling him. The Black Magician looked to where his master was in alarm, then relief when he realized the Egyptian was unharmed.

The deadly shaft of light, however, flew straight toward Bakura, who hadn't yet realized what was coming; his entire focus on the moment was devoted to afflicting damage on every visible portion of Zorc that he could manage.

Before Atem could call out a warning to the other Egyptian, there was a blur of movement from the right. It collided with the ancient thief, shoving him to the ground. Bakura growled in annoyance from his new position, whipping around to snarl at the one who'd shoved him.

He looked up in time to watch the green light of the Orichalcos slam into Ryou's chest.

The other silver haired boy's eyes widened in almost comical surprise (had it been in any other situation), and he let out a startled, "Oh!" before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped forward, coming to rest facedown near Bakura.

Dark Necrofear vanished from view.

Yugi knew what that meant.

"Ryou!" shouted Yugi in alarm. No one had noticed what had happened yet; they were all still fighting vehemently against Zorc. But at the sound of Yugi's panicked cry, everyone turned as one and stared at where Ryou lay.

Bakura sat where he had landed, his face draining of color and his eyes wide. He stared where his Hikari had fallen, too stunned to make himself move. Then, he reached mutely to grasp Ryou's shoulder, his hand betraying him by violently shaking.

"Get up…get up, you imbecile…" he growled pitifully, his voice strangled. "It couldn't have hurt that bad. Get up…Don't just lay there, you dolt."

Zorc sneered at the limp body in front of Bakura and held a hand up to stop the soldiers from attacking—situations like this were what Zorc lived for. He grinned wickedly down at Atem, Bakura, and Yugi, who were now gathered around where Ryou lay.

"Quit faking it, you moron," said Bakura, gripping Ryou's shoulder with enough force to turn his knuckles white. "I am _not_ buying it. This isn't funny anymore. Stop pretending. You are going to owe me an eternity of pocky if you don't get up _this instant!_"

Ryou didn't move.

Dartz's eyes narrowed, and he hobbled over to where the fallen boy was lying, kneeling beside the prone Ryou with a hand extended toward him. His right eye briefly turned into an aquamarine hue, before returning to its golden color. His expression darkened. "His soul was taken…it's been taken by the Orichalcos."

Bakura's hand dropped away from the boy's shoulder. Cautiously, he turned Ryou over so that he was lying on his back, before mechanically moving to check for a pulse.

"You won't find one," said Dartz heavily.

Bakura looked almost pitiful, his eyes filled with alarm and fear. "Is he dead…he can't be…the Ring, I can still feel his presence..."

Dartz said nothing, looking away.

**"Ah…but now, Tomb Raider, his soul is giving me power—just like the rest of the souls. His fate is what will happen if any of you become defeated or get hit by the light generated by my cohorts. Why fight me to begin with? You won't win. So just surrender like good little pawns."**

No one could see Bakura's face at that moment; his white hair obscured his face and eyes, so that no one was able to see what was running through his mind.

Time had frozen for a long moment, no one able to move from their position and unable to look away from where Ryou had fallen. Then, without warning, the thin shoulders of the thief started shaking, and his whole body began to tremble.

Most people would have expected someone in Bakura's position to start crying.

The thief began to laugh.

It was terrible to hear, the most terrifying thing that most of the group had ever heard—the sheer amount of hysteria and fury in it was overwhelming. The thief was trembling, all right, but it was from pent up rage. He laughed loudly all the while, his eyes lit with an unpleasant touch of madness; the thief's crazed laughter bounced and echoed all around them. Yugi was quick to note the color of the Egyptian spirit's eyes: they had turned into a deep, red-wine color.

**"The thief has finally gone mad," **said Zorc, the beginnings of an evil smile forming.

The laughter stopped immediately.

Yugi glanced apprehensively at Bakura and suddenly understood why most people in Ancient Egypt feared of incurring the Thief King Bakura's wrath.

Because Bakura's face was impassive. There was not a trace of him ever laughing, of opening his mouth, of ever feeling _anything. _

But his eyes…dear merciful _Lord_, his eyes…they were pools of darkness, the murderous light in them tinting them crimson. Yugi shuddered, glancing at Atem; the other Egyptian was watching Bakura with the air one would use when around a starving crocodile.

Bakura had snapped.

And Heaven help the one who got in his way.

When he next spoke, it was in a chillingly calm voice.

"I am not _going_ mad. I _AM _mad."


	17. Light of the Fallen

_Oh...this is it._

_After this chapter, there's only one more. I...I don't really know how I feel about this. Bittersweet, I guess._

_Sorry that this was not posted on Thanksgiving, like I promised--I kept getting blinding headaches that prevented me from looking at a computer screen shortly after my parents recovered from the flu; their cause was unknown. They have stopped, however, so I was able to resume working on it once again._

_Most likely, I will be re-writing this chapter; something about it seemed kinda off to me. But then again, it could just be me...that's why I have you fellow reviewers to help me. Speaking of which, thank you for sticking with me these past two years--it was your reviews that kept me going, and many thanks are extended to you. There are so many reviews that I never really replied to you all, but know that I love getting your reviews and I thank you once again for sticking with me for this long._

* * *

Mokuba watched the orderlies helping Valon morosely.

He had not wanted to leave, not when both of his beloved brothers were in danger. Seto had been insistent on it, though. He had wanted his little brother away from all the chaos, not willing to allow his youngest brother to come to harm.

"I'll come back to you, Mokuba…and I'll bring Noa back with me," he had promised Mokuba with that gentle smile meant only for him.

Now Mokuba understood why Seto brother had wanted him out of the way—after the incident with the Orichalcos soldiers attacking the ambulance, he was more than worried for his elder brother's safety.

At that thought, a troubled thought hit him: Would Alister and Raphael be all right?

The two older bikers had both been on their last legs, exhaustion evident in every move that they had made; until the ambulance had stopped Alister had been nodding off, barely awake. Yet they both practically flew from the vehicle to defend the Australian when the Orichalcos soldiers had attacked.

They were really no different from Seto and Noa.

Mokuba glanced out the opening where the back door had been before, past the city lights…back where both of his brothers and both of Valon's friends were. He offered up a silent prayer for their safety.

The ambulance stopped moving and Mokuba looked up as a nurse and Dr. Barton peered into the ambulance. The middle aged man took in Valon's condition in one glance and began speaking rapidly, disappearing for a moment only to return with yet another stretcher.

Valon moaned softly through the oxygen mask as several of the stronger orderlies gently shifted his body onto the stretcher, and Mokuba hopped out of the ambulance, following after the doctors wheeling Valon to the emergency room.

Mokuba couldn't fight along his brothers, nor alongside Raphael and Alister. So he would have to stay with Valon and hope for the best.

…It was times like this that he hated his age.

* * *

Bakura had said nothing since he had snapped.

He was silent, not even cackling madly as he normally did; the only indication Bakura gave that acknowledged events around him were the flicker of his crimson hued eyes. Diabound had returned to his master's side, its entire body trembling from excited tension. It could sense the bloodlust in its master, and all it waited for was the signal that would allow it to attack mercilessly.

The others had also resumed fighting, noticeably keeping a safe distance from Diabound and Bakura; Cyber Commander nearly had its arm torn clean off by Bakura's creature when it had come too close, and that was enough of a warning for the rest of the group.

"Yugi…what do you think Bakura's gonna do?" asked Jounouchi quietly, his hazel eyes locked on the rigid thief.

"I don't know, but it might not be such a bad idea to keep our distance until we know for certain," replied Yugi in just as quiet of a voice.

At first, Yugi only could vaguely hope that Bakura would have some restraint left within him and not just blindly attack; he'd also hoped that, despite the obvious cold fury being shown, that the silver haired teen would not attack at all. He knew all too well about the Tomb Raider's fury—and he did not know what he would do if one of his friends was attacked.

But then the shorter teen saw the shadows that were gathering around Bakura's ankles and he shivered.

Yugi sincerely hoped that no one would attack Bakura.

Dartz growled angrily as yet another wave of Orichalcos soldiers fired off their power, and he raised another barrier. "Everyone brace yourselves," he called out. "I won't be able to hold them off!"

Honda and Otogi, as well as Noa, turned around and placed themselves between the rest of the group and the advancing soldiers. Orguss, Cyber Commando, and Shinato came to their sides, ready to defend. "Dartz, let 'em go!" called Otogi.

The Atlantean backed slowly from his barrier and released it, watching as the soldiers came closer.

Shinato attacked with several lightning attacks, turning the first row of the advancing Orichalcos soldiers into stone statues; Cyber Commando and Orguss reduced the stone soldiers into rubble while Shinato let loose with another round of lightning to immobilize the next line. It seemed that the trio was going to be able to hold them off, but then the creatures spread out and came at them from all sides. Anzu heard Honda's startled yelp and hurried back, her Flame Sorceress sending out a wave of fire that consumed the soldiers.

Bakura eyed the oncoming creatures with a cold glare, similar to a predator stalking his prey. When a nearby Orichalcos soldier grabbed at his arm, the thief's smile was chilling to behold.

"So, you decide to attack me…" he mused aloud, his eyes dark with malice. "Your mistake."

In a flash of movement unreadable to the human eye, the shadows around Bakura's ankles abruptly lashed out at the Orichalcos soldier, catching it around its neck. The head of the creature fell to the ground before its entire being disintegrated, not even having time to shriek in pain.

Diabound roared in response to its master's attack, at last surging forward to destroy the line of monsters and his fists slamming into their bodies. The blows made contact with sickening thuds and the sound of flesh ripping as Diabound's claws raked over every surface it could find.

Noa let out a cry of distress as Diabound's crazed attacks nearly came into contact with Shinato. "Watch where you're aiming!" he snapped, calling Shinato to his side and away from the chaos. Bakura did not pay the shorter boy any mind, except to sneer at him condescendingly before Diabound resumed attacking the soldiers. Honda, Otogi, Anzu, and Noa backed away wisely, allowing Bakura to attack the monsters mercilessly.

"What're we supposed to do with him?" cried Noa once he was safely out of Diabound's strike range, gesturing to Bakura. "He's gone nutso!"

Yugi shook his head. He knew that Bakura right now was not going to be reasoned with that easily; though the whole group had only seen snatches of Bakura throughout their adventures, they also thought him the most dangerous because not even Ryou knew of what the tomb robber was capable of.

"For the moment, let Bakura take care of the Orichalcos soldiers and focus our attention on Zorc," said Yugi at last.

When everyone resumed attacking Zorc, Yugi glanced over at the thief worriedly. At the rate Bakura was currently going, it would not be long before the silver-haired teen would begin to take it out on them. Their only chance to destroy Zorc was to call out all three Egyptian gods—but Atem, from what it looked like, had not even felt even a twitch from them.

And what about the souls Zorc was drawing power from? What would happen to them if Zorc was beaten? If they destroyed Zorc, they might destroy the innocent souls trapped within him, and then what would they do?

Otogi and Honda were back to back, their monsters fighting off the trickle of Orichalcos monsters that had slipped past Diabound; Dartz had risen to his feet again and was destroying the assembled creatures with blasts of his own magic. Anzu and Noa were defending the already-weakened Dartz and Ryou's limp body as best as they could, leaving only Seto, Jounouchi, Yugi, and Atem to fight Zorc.

…Correction. Bakura had just now started to attack Zorc as well.

Diabound roared, coming from absolutely nowhere and attacking the entity's body with unrivaled ferocity. The shadows protecting Zorc fought to restrain the monster, but the sinewy substance had no effect—Diabound just ripped through them as if they were string, pounding Zorc's rapidly materializing body with every ounce of strength it possessed.

One shadow rope lashed out at Bakura himself in hopes that maybe it would cripple the attacking monster. It caught Bakura across his already injured arm, and Zorc smirked in delight.

The shadows that were still pooled at the tomb raider's feet lashed out in retaliation, cutting through two of Zorc's fingers and spearing several Orichalcos soldiers nearby; Otogi nearly was speared himself, but he luckily moved out of the way in time. Bakura did not even flinch at the new injury on his arm, smiling in a cold and distant way as he said, "You're going to have to do better than that, Zorc, if you want to stop me."

The Black Magician flew alongside of Diabound (keeping out of range of Diabound's slashing claws) and rapidly fired multiple shafts of black light up and down Zorc's body; the Blue Eyes White Dragon let loose with another lightning attack and Jounouchi's Red Eyes fired a similar shot.

Zorc growled, repelling all of the incoming attacks but unable to block Diabound's teeth as the creature's fangs sank into his arm, all the while slashing and tearing at the entity's flesh with its claws. The snake on Diabound's tail also wasted no time in sinking its venomous fangs into Zorc's body.

More shadows wrapped around Diabound, digging painfully into its body, and trickles of blood began appearing through Bakura's clothes, but it was quite obvious that the ancient thief hardly noticed it. His crimson eyes looked over at Zorc coldly.

"I thought I told you it was going to take more of your effort to get rid of me," he stated coolly, making no effort to disentangle himself from his situation.

Yugi's Silent Swordsman suddenly appeared, riding on the back of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and it leapt off to where Diabound was. Without hesitation, it cut through the tendrils holding Diabound and the monster flew back, growling and snarling in menace at the mass of shadow that was Zorc. Silent Swordsman landed gracefully on his feet on the ground below.

Bakura growled. "I don't want your help," he said coldly.

"I know. But I tend to give help to those who don't want it anyway," replied Yugi without looking at the white-haired thief. Bakura snorted derisively but offered no further comment, choosing instead to resume his ferocious attacks on Zorc.

Meanwhile, Atem had at last thought of a plan.

The moment Bakura had snapped had been the moment Atem's mind had begun to whirl—the important issue, now that the Pharaoh discovered what was powering Zorc, was to free the imprisoned souls that Zorc was using. Atem felt confident in the plan he had formulated that it would not only weaken Zorc, but it would also save the souls of those trapped by the Orichalcos.

Atem knew what to do. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, he knew what to do.

**Yugi?**

The other violet eyed teen, deflecting an attack aimed at Seto, jolted in surprise and looked over at his other half. The boy locked eyes on his Yami, and saw the look that had entered Atem's eyes.

It was that same look he'd had in the maze…his eyes were brimming in confidence, his tired and worn attitude gone and he once more shone with that reckless air. But his eyes had remained their violet hue, letting Yugi know that he had not snapped.

_What is it?_ Yugi replied through the link, barely dodging another shadow tendril.

**I am about to do is what most people define as stupid, and I want you to know in advance what I intend to do. **

_…I have a funny feeling I am not going to like this, Atem._

**Listen to what I have to tell you.**

Atem began to explain what he had in mind to his other half, all the while still battling Zorc. Noticing that the Pharaoh was preoccupied, Seto made his dragon increase the rate of its attacks; Jounouchi, though he did not truly understand why, also made his own dragon increase the frequency of its own blows. Bakura hardly cared about whether the Pharaoh was preoccupied or not—he was too busy trying to kill Zorc.

After Atem finished explaining what his new plan was, Yugi could not help but be alarmed. _Atem, are you certain that this idea will work? What if it goes wrong?_

**I am not certain of anything at the moment, but I do know this—what I have in mind is the only thing that will possibly help us the most.**

Yugi said nothing for the longest moment, struggling inwardly. This was going to be the toughest decision he had made since the Ceremonial Duel all those months ago—and if it turned out to be the wrong one, Yugi knew that he would live to regret it for the rest of his life.

_What do you need me to do? _he asked at last, looking at Atem in the eye.

**Keep our friends fighting, Yugi. Don't let them stop, because I'm sure that my actions will be quite demoralizing.**

_All right, Atem…I trust you._

The former ruler of Egypt smiled slightly at his counterpart and gave the younger teen a thumbs up. Then, without any further hesitation, he stepped forward calmly in the way of one of the Orichalcos' beams and allowed it to hit him.

Everyone stared in mute shock, their minds scrambling to figure out what had just happened.

Atem fell back in a graceful arc, eyes slipping closed as he toppled to the ground in a motionless heap. The Millennium Puzzle made a soft clatter as it contacted the roof's icy surface and his body made a muffled thump.

All of the _ka_ at that point abruptly vanished.

The mad light in Bakura's eyes vanished as he stared at where the Pharaoh had fallen, something of disbelief flashing in them before a cold look hid the emotion. Anzu's hands were over her mouth, and Noa had a horrified expression on his face. Honda, Otogi, and Jounouchi bore identical looks of shock. Dartz, Seto, and Yugi all had unreadable expressions on their own faces.

"Wh-what…? The Pharaoh…he didn't just do what I think he did…did he?" asked Honda, slight fear dancing in his eyes.

"But…if he lost…then that means Zorc wins," said Jounouchi shakily.

The assault had stopped for the time being, the soldiers and Zorc doing nothing but leering unpleasantly at the young Pharaoh's body. **"My, my,"** said Zorc at last. **"It seems that the Bitty Pharaoh felt that the cause was hopeless. It would appear that you pathetic mortals have lost,"** he finished, erupting into evil, raucous laughter.

"…No we haven't."

Zorc stopped laughing. All eyes went to Yugi, who had made his way to where Atem had fallen. His face was pale and his hands shook slightly as he gently slipped the Millennium Puzzle off of Atem's neck, but his eyes were burning with determination. "We haven't lost just yet. I don't intend to stop fighting until Zorc is defeated."

With that announcement, Yugi placed the golden artifact around his own neck, turning to regard Zorc coldly. The Black Magician reappeared once more, floating alongside Yugi's Silent Swordsman.

Beside him, Jounouchi grinned and once more summoned his dragon. The Red Eyes Black Dragon took flight almost instantly, roaring in defiance. "Y'know something, Yugi? Neither am I."

Seto smirked slightly, his own dragon reappearing in a flash of silver and curling defensively around its master. "I'm not one to quit, either. Besides, it seems that you have a plan."

"Hey now. Let's not forget about the other midget here in the congregation," said Noa, Shinato hovering in the air beside him.

Honda, Anzu, and Otogi exchanged glances before nodding resolutely and re-summoning their own _ka. _Fire Sorceress, Orguss, and Cyber Commando all came forth once more.

Dartz shook his head wearily, but his eyes were also flashing. "I am not about to let some children upstage me. I will also fight," he said, his right eye flashing an aquamarine hue.

Bakura had chosen to say nothing thus far. Though the maniacal gleam had faded, his eyes still burned crimson. "Let's not forget, Zorc, that as long as I am still standing the Shadow Game will continue. The idiot Pharaoh was not the only one who initiated this."

Diabound reappeared abruptly, its tail curling protectively around his master and its fangs glistening in the abnormal light of their battlefield. It let out a roar as well, eyes flashing and muscles tense; once again, it waited for its master's commands.

Zorc laughed darkly. **"So then, you mortals will continue to fight against me? How valiant…and how pathetic."**

"We'll see who's pathetic after we defeat you," said Yugi bravely, sending forth the Black Magician and his Silent Swordsman.

As bursts of light and the sounds of blasts resumed once again, Yugi glanced to where Atem had fallen and said softly, "I hope your plan works."

* * *

He sank to the ground against the trunk of the tree, black spots threatening to overwhelm his vision, but he refused to allow himself to sleep. He hardly cared about the snow on the ground—if anything, the cold whiteness was keeping him awake.

He vaguely registered footsteps come toward him and he looked up blearily to spot a familiar red-haired figure tottering to where he was sitting, his own body speaking volumes of his exhaustion.

Raphael sighed tiredly, scooting over to allow Alister to sit near him.

"You think that's the last of them?" he asked, listening to the sound of gunshots nearby. The policemen, for the moment, seemed capable of taking care of themselves. No further Orichalcos soldiers had come their way; it had taken a lot of effort to overpower the six monsters, given that their only weapons had been heavy sticks and themselves.

"…Knowing our luck, no," retorted Alister, leaning his head against the trunk of the tree and his eyes slipping closed. The redhead was exhausted, battered, and bruised—he sincerely hoped that he was wrong and that no further incident would happen to them.

Raphael frowned slightly, looking in the direction the ambulance had driven off in. Had Valon and Mokuba made it safely to the hospital? Was Valon going to make it? Had any more soldiers stopped the ambulance? What if they had and Valon was…

Oh, how _ridiculous_ could he get? Of course they'd made it. The soldiers hadn't accosted them, and when they got to the hospital it would be to find that the Australian was recovering from his ordeal.

Raphael hoped.

"How's your shoulder?" Alister's voice cut into his thoughts, and the older blonde blinked away the cobwebs in his mind. A pair of gray eyes, faintly illuminated by the moon and snowfall around them, was watching Raphael with concern.

Realizing what Alister had asked, his torn shoulder throbbed painfully in reminder and he winced. He tried to look down at it but was only able to see a dark spot on his shirt where the blood had soaked through it.

The other male seemed to understand, because he scooted closer to Raphael and gently moved a part of Raphael's duster and shirt to look at his shoulder critically. A moment later, Alister's tense body relaxed and he said, "This time, the stitches held. I highly recommend, though, that you not use this arm anymore."

Raphael smirked ruefully. "That won't be a problem, as long as everyone leaves us alone."

As Raphael surveyed Alister, he noticed that the red-haired man was bleeding from several moderate scratches in his torso; after a brief moment of confusion, he realized that the cuts had been inflicted from where Alister had been grabbed by the Orichalcos soldier as he had rescued Mokuba. The blonde wondered if he needed to worry about poison in Alister's wounds.

"You don't look too good yourself," commented Raphael, pointing to Alister's chest with a raised eyebrow.

"I know," replied Alister wryly, returning to where he had been sitting. "I don't think anybody's in that good of condition right now."

Alister gestured vaguely in the direction of the skyscraper's peak, where the large dark cloud was ominously obscuring it from view. Not very many people could see it from the ground anymore—especially if the smoke from several exploding police cars obscured it.

"How do you think anyone is going to explain all this to the police?" asked Raphael at length.

Alister shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that we'll think of something."

They both heard something that was coming down the road, and the two of them rose apprehensively (albeit tiredly) to their feet. They couldn't tell from here what it was, and they could only hope that whatever was coming to them was friendly.

Because if it wasn't, neither of the two had anything left to fight with.

* * *

_Cold, bone-chilling cold, all around him it was cold._

_The darkness was all around him, suffocating and pressing against him on all sides. And somewhere in the dark he could here moans and pitiful cries, muffled by the oppressive black around him._

_Hell was made of ice and darkness._

_He was floating in this coldness, this hellish blackness, and he had no idea where the light was anymore. He had tried to find the exit to this place, to go back to where the light was warm, but all around him was cold and unyielding darkness._

_As more thought returned to him, he began to remember what had happened: someone had been in danger and he had pushed that someone out of the way. A split second of white-hot pain, and then he had gone cold and numb._

_This was not like all those other times when he had been overshadowed. When his other half had taken control, he had simply blacked out. He had never been trapped in such a cold and dark place before in all his life._

_Wherever this place was, Ryou wanted out._

"Can anyone in this wretched place hear me?"

_Ryou blinked in surprise. He recognized that voice…Atem was in here as well? He looked around for the former pharaoh in the darkness, and soon spotted a small, faintly glowing figure in the distance._

_"_If anyone can hear me, come to the light."

_Ryou wasted no time in orienting himself toward that light, floating to it as fast as he could. It was slow at first, partially because of the darkness and partially because Ryou had no idea how to navigate in this place. Gradually, as he picked up speed, he realized that it was steadily getting warmer as he got closer to that gold light. He also became aware of the multitude of people that were coming alongside him, all of their destinations the same as his own. Ryou could not really see them, and he barely heard them, but nonetheless Ryou knew that they were there._

_At length—because he had no idea how to measure time within this place—Ryou finally saw Atem._

_The other teen was also floating, but the golden light that surrounded him was illuminating his body, definitively separating him from the darkness, and the light shone so fiercely that he could only see an outline. Ryou felt the numbing cold leave him as he floated in the light coming from the Pharaoh._

"All of you,"_ began the Pharaoh in a captivatingly powerful voice, "_have been trapped within the confines of this place for far too long. You have been unjustly taken, because the one who has done this deemed that you were too _unworthy _and _unimportant_ to miss."

_There was a definite disgusted note in the last sentence, and Ryou could practically feel the outrage and righteous indignation radiating off of the Egyptian. Then his eyes swept around at the assembled souls, softening slightly._

"However, that statement is wrong. All of you…all of you are important to someone out there. All of you have memories within you. Memories of times that were much happier, memories that are filled with light…the memories that you treasure most. And it is those memories that can help you escape from here."

_Even before Atem finished speaking, Ryou could feel a warmth spreading through his body as faint flashes of his past began going through his mind: seeing his little sister for the very first time, his parents watching as he played on the playground, his mother comforting him after a nightmare…_

_Ryou was unaware that he, along with everyone else, was beginning to glow with the same golden light that Atem was. _

"I need you all to focus on those precious memories, because it is their strength which can get us out of here. You must allow me to draw on those thoughts, because I need to borrow your strength to defeat this evil once and for all."

_Atem seemed to look around at the crowd that was gathered here in the darkness alongside him, and Ryou noticed that the light emanating from him was growing even stronger and more powerful by the second; all around Ryou, light was beginning to shine forth in the darkness and it seemed to be feeding Atem's own light._

_The regal Egyptian's gaze once more swept through the crowd, and then he said in a deep and powerful voice, _"Let's show Akira just how wrong he was."

_Golden-white light immediately flashed brightly in the darkness, and the world was no longer numb._

* * *

Diabound let out a deafening roar, tearing off the Orichalcos soldiers on its body that were trying to restrain it.

The Red Eyes Black Dragon roared in reply, its thick tail slamming into several bodies and causing them to fly in the air; beside it, Shinato and the Blue Eyes White Dragon were mimicking the dark-scaled dragon, fighting against restraint.

On the ground, the group had been forced to rely on hand to hand combat, as the soldiers had become almost overwhelming in their attempts to steal souls. Jounouchi and Honda were in their element, beating back several taller and heavier monsters and keeping them away from those who were injured; Otogi had taken Orguss away from the fight and used it to assist Jounouchi and Honda.

"Remind you of the good ol' days with Hirutani?" called Honda, kicking one Orichalcos monster in its torso. Jounouchi shot Honda a withering look before returning to the battle at hand, ducking beneath a swiping taloned hand.

Yugi was defending Atem's motionless body with his Silent Swordsman, using the Black Magician to attack the ever-growing mass of darkness, while Dartz continued to deflect the blasts of the Orichalcos' light from the group. Seto and Noa had put themselves back to back, continuing to attack Zorc when they were not fighting to keep themselves from being captured. Anzu's Fire Sorceress was blasting everything at random, orange flame darting in and out of the darkness around them.

Nonetheless, to an outsider it was apparent that their struggles were in vain.

Jounouchi gave a startled cry as one of the Orichalcos soldiers gripped his arm and pulled the blonde into the air, and he struggled furiously to free himself. "Get offa me!" he growled, trying to land a punch on his captor.

Noa let out a pained shout as one of the soldiers twisted Shinato's arm (which happened to be the same one with the broken wrist) behind it, and Seto whirled around to his brother. His snarl matched his dragon's as its tail swept away the Orichalcos soldiers, but he too was soon overwhelmed by the Orichalcos soldiers.

Dartz and Anzu simultaneously were beaten down, while Honda was knocked backward into Otogi by a wayward swipe from one of the armored beasts. Diabound let out another infuriated roar, swiping at the soldiers on its back angrily, and the shadows gathered around Bakura was dancing around him; the soldiers were intercepted by Bakura every time they tried to get near him. The Black Magician was hovering nearby Yugi defensively, blasting at both Zorc and the soldiers, while Silent Swordsman slashed at Zorc's hands.

**"Give up, little humans. Your time is up, and you are running out of power," **sneered Zorc, his red eyes glittering in triumph as he watched all but Yugi and Bakura get restrained.

Noa struggled furiously against his current captor. "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, ugly!" he snarled, lashing out with his feet to kick at his captor's face.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Fat Lady had sung.

Of their group, all but Yugi and Bakura had been restrained by the soldiers; of the monsters, Yugi's and Bakura's, as well as the dragons, were the only ones left.

Yugi bit back a cry of pain as one of the shadow tendrils hit Silent Swordsman across its back, but his violet eyes gleamed in defiance. "I…I won't give up," he growled.

"Well said, shrimp, but I don't think that's going to help us any," snapped Bakura, snarling as one of the Orichalcos soldiers once again reached for his arm. "Lay off, you insignificant creature!" he growled, one of his own shadow tendrils lashing out at the monster.

The two humans and the five monsters fought valiantly for a few more moments, but it was in vain—they soon found themselves being restrained as well by the gathered soldiers.

"Get OFF!" roared Bakura from where he was pinned on the ground, lashing out with shadows desperately.

The Orichalcos soldier sneered down at him, continuing to pin him down with one taloned hand. Bakura let out an inadvertent gasp as the pressure from the creature's grip agitated his wounds.

Above them all, Zorc chuckled darkly. **"So, my friends," **he said. **"It seems that the battle has been lost, and you are the losers. All that I need to do now is to take Bakura's soul and destroy both the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring."**

"Just try it, you overstuffed windbag!" cried Jounouchi angrily, struggling. "We aren't done yet!"

Yugi's attention had gone to Atem's limp body, and his eyes hardened. The Silent Swordsman let out a cry as it fought bravely against the soldiers restraining it, and it actually managed to slice through several of the soldiers holding it. Diabound let out another roar of fury and swung its fists into its captor's bodies, managing to free itself briefly; the Black Magician blasted several monsters off of himself and flew back into the air, just out of reach of the monsters.

Yet, there was nothing the two monsters could do—their masters were too heavily restrained, and they themselves were running out of energy. Their brief bout of freedom was lost and the two monsters were once again restrained.

"How come these guys haven't taken our souls yet?" asked Honda, struggling half-heartedly against his captor. He was not a quitter, but he did know when they were beaten.

"If I had to wager a guess, he is ordering the soldiers to hold back until he destroys the Puzzle and the Ring."" said Dartz wearily, fighting to keep standing (the Orichalcos soldier gripping him was doing nothing to keep him upright).

Yugi heard the Atlantean's grim announcement and tightened his grip on the Millennium Puzzle defensively. "That is not going to happen," he stated firmly. "He isn't getting this Puzzle—not if I can help it."

**"My my, little human. Is that a challenge?" **sneered Zorc, leering down at his captives with an unpleasant grin. **"Perhaps you want me to take it from you by force?"**

"You aren't getting this," said Yugi firmly, his knuckles turning white from gripping the golden Puzzle. "Not on my life."

**"Then perhaps I had better take both your life and the Puzzle," **said Zorc, and a tendril of darkness, sharp as a spear, hurtled abruptly at the short teen.

"YUGI!" screamed Anzu.

Just as the darkness was about to strike, the Millennium Puzzle burst into blinding white flame.

Yugi gasped, instinctively releasing the golden pyramid and watching with wide eyes as the glowing object remained suspended in the air. Warmth spread from it in an encompassing circle, driving back the oppressive darkness and spreading in powerful waves. Repercussions from the light began lashing out at the Orichalcos soldiers, destroying them and freeing their captives.

The Orichalcos soldiers were not the only ones affected.

Zorc cried out in agony as beams of light burst through his body from the inside, his red eyes widening in shock as the light shone out from within him. **"Wh-What's happening?!" **he cried in alarm.

Slowly, glowing orbs began to rise from within the dark entity, gaining speed as they flew upward. Two of them flew past Yugi and Bakura, returning to Atem's and Ryou's motionless bodies, but the bright light emanating from the Millennium Puzzle shone so fiercely that the group was forced to close their eyes to prevent themselves from going blind.

When the light faded, Yugi heard both Honda and Jounouchi say in awe-struck voices, "Whoa," and Noa let out a low whistle.

Atem was once more standing, but his previously pale colored skin had returned to a rich, tan hue. His wardrobe, which had consisted of a replica of Yugi's, had turned into the royal garments of a Pharaoh once more. The golden jewelry on his arms flashed brightly, and his diadem also shone brightly in the light.

Ryou was also once more on his feet, wobbling slightly but still standing. Bakura moved quickly to his counterpart, surprising everyone by gripping the other teen tightly around his upper arm and keeping him supported. He said nothing, but the crimson light in his eyes noticeably diminished.

Atem himself was glowing with the same light that the Millennium Puzzle was, and his stern gaze was locked onto Zorc. When he spoke, his voice rang out with almost tangible power and authority.

"Zorc Necrophades, you have ruined the lives of countless innocent people in your quest for power. You have trampled on humanity and caused needless death and destruction wherever you went. You have acted out your dark powers for the last time, and now you are finished."

Zorc laughed and said mockingly, **"How do you plan to defeat me, Bitty Pharaoh? You cannot even summon the gods."**

But even as Zorc spoke, the floating spheres in the sky began to fly around the Millennium Puzzle, all of them giving off a powerful light. Zorc's eyes widened and he seemed to shrink away from the light.

"The same souls that you deemed worthless, Zorc, now fuel the power of my Millennium Puzzle," said Atem, the glow fading from around him but still shining. "And now, they will help me put an end to your plan—once and for all."

The shining spheres slipped into the Millennium Puzzle, and the bright light shone forth once again. A low rumbling sound suddenly was heard, and then a familiar red dragon burst from the shadows. Another familiar blue creature rose from the ground behind Atem, and from above them they heard the familiar cry of a flaming eagle.

Zorc was openly terrified now. **"No! This cannot be!" **

Bakura shielded his eyes from the light, nonetheless watching what was happening. "So now I can see how the Pharaoh defeated Zorc last time—and this time I won't end up dead," he said simply.

The three gods soon were surrounded by the same golden aura that Atem himself was surrounded with, and they too disappeared into the Millennium Puzzle. The light surrounding Atem became almost blinding, and Yugi and his friends were forced to shield their eyes from the sight. But nonetheless, even though they could see nothing the group could still hear a powerful voice ring out:

"In the name of the Pharaoh Atem, I call thee forth—_Horakhty, Guardian of Light!"_


	18. Victory

_This is it._

_This is the last chapter…I'm not sure if I should do a victory dance or start crying._

_One final note: you might want to read "Of Bug Bites and Soul Caliber" just as a refresher's course—someone you saw in there will be here this chapter._

* * *

Blinding white light flew from behind Atem in razor sharp spears, bathing the gathered group in a warm blanket of protection; the shadows that had been near Bakura vanished in the pure light that shone forth brilliantly.

Zorc instantly backed away from the light, panic alight in his red eyes. He tried to take shelter in the remaining darkness that did not have light shining through it. The barrier obscuring the night outside was beginning to fade beneath the intense light that originated from the Pharaoh.

"Zorc Necrophades, your actions have warranted punishment," said Atem sternly, the Eye of Horus shining brightly on his head. "You will never again be allowed to enact your powers in this manner. You will cease to exist, now and forever more. There will be no escape for you—_ever!"_

When Atem had been speaking his voice had been steadily begun to rise. By the time he had finished, he was shouting.

"Oh holy Ra, there it is," murmured Bakura, shielding his eyes as a figure began to materialize from the light behind Atem.

Zorc shied away from Atem once again, but this time there was nowhere for the darkness to hide; that powerful, pure shining light was piercing everything in the dark, laying it bare and preventing Zorc from hiding within it.

By this point, the light was bathing them in warm protectiveness. Yugi, however, could tell that the darkness was not exactly thrilled with it; tendrils randomly lashed out at them, but it was deflected by the powerful shield around them. Bakura seemed to be highly impressed, as did the people who had not originally seen Horakhty.

"If there's anything who can beat him, it'd be that," he remarked, keeping a firm grip on Ryou. The other silver haired teen seemed to be doing much better as he stood in the soothing light emanating from Horakhty.

Noa let out a low whistle. "I'd believe that," he said simply.

The group seemed to be doing much better as the light coming from Horakhty shone down on them; their injuries seemed to disappear for the moment, and for those who were severely injured it was a blessing as the pain left.

**"Pharaoh!" **cried Zorc. **"You can never fully destroy me. As long as darkness exists in the hearts of men, I will always exist!"**

"That is partially true," said Atem gravely. "Darkness cannot ever be totally destroyed. You, however, can be—you may be born from darkness, but you are not the darkness itself. And I will make sure that you never again return."

From behind Atem, Horakhty loomed over all, its gaze boring into Zorc's. Its hand began to rise toward the entity of darkness, and a ball of light gathered in its hand. Zorc lashed out at Horakhty with shadows in desperation, red eyes speaking fear, but it was in vain—the shadows were pushed back to him, injuring him as they fled.

**"NO!"**

Atem's hand was rising as well, and it was apparent that he was controlling Horakhty. He put his hand out in front him, palm facing Zorc, and the darkness tried once again to attack him. The golden light surrounding him protected Atem from the attack, however, and Atem remained standing.

"Be gone, Zorc Necrophades—now and forever."

The command was spoken in a normal tone of voice.

The light that had been gathered in Horakhty's palm blasted forth in a golden wave; the intense light burned fiercely, and Yugi suddenly understood how hot the sun must be. The light traveled across the roof to impact Zorc with all the force that it had—and to Zorc, it was if he had been hit by a large train.

The dark entity screamed in agony as the darkness all around him and on his body began to dissipate beneath the attack of light, and Zorc writhed in pain as the light pierced his body. But then the light grew in power, burning intensely, and everyone was forced to shield their eyes to prevent themselves from being blinded. Despite not seeing anything, they could still hear Zorc's screams.

And then, without warning, the screams ceased.

Yugi was the first to open his eyes, being careful to make sure that the light had died down in intensity. He scanned the rooftop, looking everywhere for any sign of Zorc; the night around them had returned, the stars shining brightly in the sky above them. Balls of light hovered near the group, but beyond that there was no sign that Horakhty had ever been there.

Atem was still standing, his back to them, but the garments of the Pharaoh had vanished to be replaced by the modern clothes he had worn before. However, as the Egyptian turned to face them it was to see that his skin remained a rich tan hue.

He looked to the nearest floating orb and murmured something unintelligible to it. In the next second, all the floating orbs took to the sky, spreading out in their flight. Some flew directly upwards, while others flew in horizontal streaks; if they didn't know any better, it was like looking at a meteor shower. Yugi realized with a jolt that what they were seeing were the souls previously trapped within Zorc, and he also realized that they were returning to where they rightfully belonged.

The Egyptian Pharaoh watched them go for a brief moment, his amethyst eyes unreadable, and then he turned toward his friends. He took one step before he stumbled—it became apparent that he was going to collapse.

"Atem!" called Yugi, hurrying to his counterpart. He steadied his look-a-like carefully, his eyes worried.

The other teen looked at Yugi and then to his friends, who had instantly gathered around him after Yugi had caught him. He offered them a weak smile. "Zorc is gone. He can never return," he said simply, and then he slumped forward as his eyes closed.

There were cries of alarm as Atem fainted, but Bakura growled and said, "Relax. All that has happened is that he expended too much energy in summoning Horakhty."

Anzu sighed in relief. "That's good. I was worried…Atem had his soul sealed in the Millennium Puzzle before because of this," she said. "Will that happen this time?"

"As you can see, his body is still here and the Millennium Ring would have reacted if his soul was gone. Ergo, his soul hasn't been sealed in the Puzzle."

"At least he put a stop to it," said Jounouchi. "That ugly creep isn't going to bother us again, right?"

"Not necessarily," said Dartz quietly. "All the Pharaoh did was defeat Zorc. Who's to say that something like this will never happen again?"

Noa scowled at the Atlantean. "Would it kill ya to think positively?"

Dartz did not offer a reply, instead choosing to cross the rooftop to where Akira had been standing. His eyes narrowed at something, however, and he backed away. "We don't have to worry about Akira doing something like this ever again."

Honda frowned, and he asked, "Why's that?"

Seto, however, was standing near the area Dartz was investigating and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "It's kind of hard to start anything when you're a _skeleton_," he said, booting the skull near his foot.

"So…Akira's dead?" said Otogi warily, not moving to investigate.

"In a word, yes, and good riddance to that," said Bakura, steadying Ryou. "His soul was dead long before his body was—all that was thinking was the ghost of a man who didn't know he was dead yet."

Ryou looked over at where Atem was being supported by Yugi. "Is he all right?" he asked.

"He'll be fine. He's just worn out, but I'm sure a good night's rest will fix that," said Yugi, noticing that Atem was trying his hardest to stand upright. The Pharaoh's eyes were dulled with exhaustion, but they looked around at the rooftop with a hint of alertness. Atem was not done yet.

"Something's not right here," murmured the Egyptian with a slight frown.

Jounouchi, who had heard Atem's quiet statement, looked to his shorter friend. "Wait a minute, you beat Zorc! You tellin' me that he's still alive?"

The other teen shook his head. "It's not that, Jounouchi," he said, gently brushing Yugi away from him as he shakily stood in place. "It's just…something doesn't seem right. Like there's one last thing that is supposed to happen—I just can't pinpoint what."

Perhaps Atem's words reminded the building of what was supposed to happen now.

What no one had yet thought of (except Atem, who had a distinct uneasy feeling about it) was that their battle had been fought on the roof of a building that, until recently, had not been in use. The roof's surface had taken many blows, mostly from the blasts originating from Zorc and the other Ka. The foundations, which had deteriorated over the lack of use, simply could not stand up to that sort of beating.

Ominous groans filled the air as the rooftop's surface beneath them began to give way, cracks in the concrete beginning to spiderweb their way around the group.

Noa gave a startled yelp as the concrete beneath his feet shifted, and he moved closer to Seto. "You have got to be _kidding_ me!" he snarled. "Haven't we done enough tonight?!"

"Apparently not, Noa," said Seto in a nonplussed voice, but his eyes were filled with irritation. "Everyone knows that we need a collapsing building involved somewhere."

"We certainly don't need this happening, though!" cried Anzu, giving a startled squeal as the concreted beneath her own feet shifted ominously. She leapt to where Yugi and Atem were just as the roof beneath her disappeared.

Jounouchi moved to where Yugi was and put a steadying arm around the shorter teen's waist. "I think it's time we blow this popsicle stand," he said, noticing that Atem immediately slumped forward; the Egyptian had collapsed again.

Bakura growled. "I don't think we can go anywhere," he said, pointing to where the entrance to the stairway and elevator shaft was sinking downward and crumbling.

"So in other words, we're stranded up here and we're going to fall to our deaths," said Honda pessimistically.

"Yay. Just how I wanted to die," said Noa, slipping on the icy roof and nearly falling. Seto caught Noa's upper arm though and hoisted the mint-haired teen back on his feet, keeping his balance on the treacherously shifting terrain.

Yugi, however, was listening intently; he had heard something over the sounds of the collapsing building and he was trying to figure out just what it was that he could hear. It was a rhythmic sound, a sort of humming—only much louder and it was getting closer all the while. The sound was coming from somewhere below the railing; it certainly wasn't in the building. Yugi quickly went to the railing, peering over it and looking down at the ground below.

"Planning on jumping?" asked Seto sarcastically

"No, not really," said Yugi, frowning in concentration. "It almost sounds as if there's something below us…"

A muffled explosion from beneath them shook the ground and the entire rooftop began to sway. Otogi yelped as he fell backward into Dartz and Honda, and it was just barely that they managed to stay standing. Anzu stayed stubbornly by Jounouchi and Atem, and Noa kept near Bakura and Ryou.

"Well, it's official—we're dead," said Noa, gulping as more of the rooftop began to collapse.

From behind them, a sudden gust of wind blew at the group and they held up their arms to avoid getting debris into their eyes. Yugi turned, squinting against the spotlight that was being directed at them—and he got a surprise.

One of Seto's helicopters was hovering in the air behind them, its back to them and the rear hatch open; judging from what he could see, it was the exact model that had flown to Battle City to take Jounouchi to the mainland and also the type Seto had used when the whole fiasco with DOOM had occurred. Two figures were clinging to a safety railing inside the helicopter, and as the helicopter lowered downward Yugi immediately recognized them.

Jounouchi squinted upward, then grinned as he recognized the helicopter's current passengers. "A sight for sore eyes," he said, his grin disappearing as he realized something. "How am I supposed to jump straight up, Yugi?"

Seto rolled his eyes and pressed the insignia on his duster. "Roland, I'm assuming you are in the helicopter?"

"_Nope! This is Thomas!"_ responded a cheerful voice from the speaker. _"Uncle Roland went to the hospital to keep an eye on your brother. He contacted me though and said it was possible you needed air support."_

"Well, then, Thomas. Pull the helicopter level to the roof. We don't have the ability to defy gravity," said Seto bluntly, looking up at the bottom of the helicopter. The angle he was standing prevented him from noticing who was in the helicopter right away, but judging by Yugi's face he had a pretty good idea who was up there.

The helicopter moved forward a bit and then began to lower to the roof's surface. However, it did not touch down on the ground; given the circumstances, Yugi thought that it was a good thing it hadn't. As the helicopter lowered and became level to the roof top, the wind began to pick up, blowing dust and debris toward the group. Some of them shielded their eyes against it, but a few (like Jounouchi) continued to watch.

Raphael and Alister were standing in the opening of the helicopter, the wind tossing their dusters. They looked no worse for the wear, but Yugi figured that the sooner the two of them rested was going to be all the better in the long run. Anything that the two bikers could be saying was lost in the roar of the helicopter, though it seemed as if they understood that and were motioning with their hands to get aboard.

Yugi turned to the group and noticed immediately that Atem was awake once again, but his friend was far too worn out to even stand, let alone jump across the roof and onto a floating helicopter. For that matter, Ryou and Dartz were also in no condition to leap across; those two were going to need assistance.

Atem slipped Jounouchi's arm off of him, steadying himself before looking to his friend. "You can't carry me and manage to get across. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" asked the blonde, watching him intently.

Atem nodded once, standing straighter than he had been previously.

"Okay…I think I can jump that," said Jounouchi after he examined the gap between the roof and the helicopter. The blonde teen began to run forward and at the edge he jumped. He cleared the gap easily enough, but on the doorway he nearly fell because of the turbulence.

"Maybe not!" he yelped, flailing and struggling to keep his balance.

A strong hand caught the blonde's forearm and yanked him aboard the helicopter just before he fell. Jounouchi looked at his rescuer and sighed in relief. "Thanks," he said gratefully.

Raphael winced. He'd been forced to use his injured arm to secure Jounouchi, and his throbbing shoulder protested at the action. "Just don't fall," he grunted, using his other hand to catch Honda's and pull him aboard the helicopter.

Otogi came almost immediately after Honda had jumped, and Alister was the one who steadied the raven haired teenager. Anzu was next, after reluctantly leaving behind Yugi and Atem.

Seto looked at Noa. "How would you like to fly?" he asked.

The mint haired boy blinked in confusion. "What is that supposed to—GAH!"

His reply was cut off as his older brother picked up the shorter Kaiba and bodily tossed him across the gap and into the helicopter; Honda noticed Noa flying through the air and caught him before Noa could land on his broken wrist. Moments later, Seto cleared the space and landed neatly in the helicopter, declining Alister's offered hand and ignoring Noa's indignant scowl.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Well that seems like a good idea," he said.

Ryou did not like the way Bakura had said that, but before he could object the tomb raider was running forward and dragging Ryou with him. The other white haired teen let out a startled gasp as they both jumped across; Bakura's grip tightened on his arm to the point of cutting off blood circulation, and as they landed the Egyptian made doubly sure to sling Ryou forward into the body of the helicopter and away from the edge.

Yugi turned to Dartz to ask if the Atlantean needed help—only to realize that in all the chaos Dartz had slipped away. "Atem! What happened to—?!"

"He'll be fine, Yugi," said Atem wearily.

"But he was hurt! And the building is collapsing!"

"I know. I noticed he was gone just now. He disappeared a while ago…I think he wanted to avoid Alister and Raphael," replied Atem simply. "Somehow, though, I think he will get out just fine. If he can teleport from place to place, he will get out of here."

Yugi hesitated for one last moment before looking to Atem and nodding. "Ready to jump?"

"Not really—the idea of leaping from a collapsing building to an airborne helicopter does not quite amuse me," said Atem, nonetheless backing away. There seemed to be one last bit of strength within the Pharaoh, for he straightened up and his eyes lit up once more; whatever weariness he was feeling was no longer apparent.

The rooftop beneath them began to collapse and crumble, and on a wordless signal the two shorter teens took off, leaping simultaneously in the air. At the same moment, the entire rooftop collapsed and the building began to crumble downward.

Atem made the platform easily enough, but Yugi began to fall backwards. However, Raphael once again came to the rescue and pulled the boy into the body of the helicopter. The blonde man backed away from the opening, looking briefly at the assembled group of teenagers before sinking into a seat beside Alister.

Atem thanked Raphael quietly before he limped to one of the seats and sank into it wearily. Ryou had already taken a seat, as had Seto and Noa; as much as either of the two Kaiba brothers cared not to admit it, they were both on their last legs.

The other members of the group bore marks of the battle they had fought, Atem noticed, but their wounds and injuries were not as severe as Seto's—the brunette was most likely in need of some medical attention, as well as Bakura (and judging from what he could see, Alister needed it also).

Several people in their group had gotten burned from Anzu's Fire Sorceress when her fire blasts had been deflected by Zorc, the worst one of which being Jounouchi; his hands were covered in second-degree burns. Otogi also had several burns and one of his emerald eyes was half-open. Anzu's ankle seemed to be still causing her trouble, while Honda had scratches and minor burns. Bakura, obviously, was going to need treatment for his arm, and Alister had several deep puncture wounds in his torso.

As far as Yugi and Ryou seemed to look, all they needed was rest. Noa was not hurt any worse than he had been earlier that day, but he looked worn out and ready to collapse; Raphael also looked exhausted as he sat nearby Alister, and Atem wondered idly if they had heard anything about Valon.

Seto was up in the cockpit, conversing with the pilot quietly (Thomas, if he remembered the name right). He finished whatever conversation he had been having with him and turned to the group. "We're heading to one of the private clinics that Kaiba Corporation owns instead of heading to the hospital; it'll be much less of a hassle there than at the hospital, and it has the same kind of coverage that a hospital does."

Alister looked up sharply at Seto, but the brunette wasn't finished speaking. "We're stopping at the hospital because I need to pick up Mokuba. You and Raphael can get off there—Valon, from what it sounds like, is in no condition to be moved yet," he said, looking at the two bikers.

"Is he all right?" asked Raphael quietly, his eyes watching Seto intently.

"I don't know. You'll just have to get there to find out," said the CEO simply, but though it sounded rude the group could hear the underlying tone of concern beneath it.

Yugi watched Atem as he began to nod off, deciding not to wake the other teen if he fell asleep until they had arrived at their destination; it had taken an inordinate amount of effort for Atem to defeat Zorc, and the poor Egyptian could use a break.

Atem wearily closed his eyes. Despite the roar of the helicopter from outside, he felt as if he could go to sleep. He was worn out after everything he had done in one day (it was hard to believe that only that amount of time had passed since this whole thing had begun), and despite all of his best efforts to remain awake he was asleep in minutes.

* * *

Mokuba watched the sky anxiously, waiting for the helicopter that was carrying both of his brothers.

Roland had arrived at the hospital earlier, reassuring Mokuba that Thomas was en route to Akira's lair and—when asked—that Raphael and Alister were all right when he had left them; Roland had been on his way to the hospital city on Seto's orders and calling about air support when he found the two bikers on the side of the road. He'd given them a lift back to the tower, and when they'd asked he had let them know about the helicopter that was on the way.

Currently the head of security was standing beside the raven haired Kaiba, making certain that no harm came to the child—though Akira was back at his lair, there was no telling if the fiend had given orders concerning Mokuba.

Much to the child's delight, he spotted a helicopter with the familiar Kaiba Corporation logo on its side heading through the night and coming toward them. "It's them!" he cried, anxiety and delight racing though him.

He was fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot as the helicopter slowly descended onto the roof, the helicopter blades slowing down but not entirely stopping as it got closer and closer to the icy surface. The helicopter slowly touched the roof, and then Roland was pushing him gently forward. "We're dropping people off and then heading to the clinic," he called over the wind.

Mokuba went forward obediently, looking anxiously into the interior of the helicopter as the rear door swung open. He noticed with relief and surprise that Raphael and Alister had slipped out the door; they seemed no worse for the wear, though they both looked utterly exhausted. They noticed him and though neither of them said anything Mokuba could see the unasked question in their eyes.

"As far as I know, Valon's still in the emergency room!" Mokuba shouted over the wind, looking directly at them.

The former DOOM soldiers gave him a grateful nod, hurrying past him and to the rooftop entrance. Dr. Barton was waiting for them, already having been briefed on the situation, and the last Mokuba saw of them before he boarded was the doctor ushering them inside.

When the child clambered aboard the helicopter, his blue-gray eyes immediately began to adjust to the interior. Ryou's and Bakura's silver hair shone in the dark because of the interior light, and Yugi's hair was obvious as well, but the child could not make out anything else in the dim interior.

In the next second, however, it didn't matter.

From behind him a pair of arms wrapped themselves around the child, and Mokuba looked up into a pair of warm and familiar cobalt eyes. Instantly Mokuba returned the hug, squeezing his brother tightly around his waist.

"Careful, kid," said Seto, wincing but making no effort to disentangle himself from Mokuba's embrace.

"Oh, I see how it is," scoffed another familiar voice, and Mokuba turned to see Noa watching him from where he was sitting. The mint haired teen had folded his arms and was mock glaring at him. "Seto gets all the love, and I get absolutely—"

Seto rolled his eyes, and with one free hand smacked the back of Noa's head. "Grow up."

Noa scowled at him, but had no time to reply as Mokuba released Seto and went to give him a hug. "ACK! Can't…breathe…Mokuba hug…crushing my lungs…" said Noa, raising his arms above his head in an exaggerated manner. However, he returned the hug as best as he could, making sure to avoid hurting his broken wrist.

Seto raised an eyebrow, his expression speaking louder than words.

Noa stuck his tongue out petulantly, letting Mokuba go so the raven haired child could sit in his seat properly; the boy was sitting in between his elder brothers, determined not to let them out of sight. Neither of the older Kaibas said nothing further and Mokuba was content to sit in silence beside them.

Ryou and Bakura had both dozed off, wearily slumped in their seats. Yugi, Otogi, and Anzu looked about ready to join them as well; Atem had woken up when the helicopter had dropped Raphael and Alister off, but he looked fairly close to falling asleep again.

Jounouchi and Honda were wide awake and sitting nearby Bakura, debating on a matter of great importance.

"So…what do you think? Kitty whiskers on his cheeks?" asked Honda, eyeing Bakura warily.

Jounouchi frowned in concentration. "Yeah…I think that might work. Then if we shade in his nose with the sharpie, we won't need the ears. He already has those."

Yugi looked over at his friends with a tired smile. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned simply.

Jounouchi pulled out his sharpie and waved it cheerfully in the air at Yugi. "Aw relax. He can't do anything if he's asleep."

Yugi shook his head wearily. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he replied, leaning his head back against the head rest. The blonde grinned mischievously, pulling the cap off of the marker and leaning carefully toward Bakura.

Apparently, the tomb raider was not in favor of Jounouchi's idea.

"Touch me with that foul smelling device and I will make certain that the shadows feast on your shredded remains," Bakura growled, cracking open one mahogany colored eye to glare at the blonde teenager.

Jounouchi yelped, scrambling away from the silver haired thief and moving to the nearest unoccupied seat that was furthest from Bakura. Ryou started awake, looking blearily for the source of the commotion, but he returned to sleep moments later. Yugi gave Jounouchi a look that plainly said, "I told you so."

Mokuba grinned. "It looks like things are normal again," he commented.

Seto snorted. "As normal as things will ever be with the Dweeb Patrol," he said.

Atem looked over at Seto, his eyes tired but amused. "Kaiba, as much as you want to deny it you're involved with the 'Dweeb Patrol', as you so fondly called it."

"…If it's all the same to you, I'm just going to keep on denying that."

* * *

Under normal circumstances, Raphael wouldn't leave Alister by himself at the hospital. But to be honest, it was either him or Alister that was going to head home—and Alister had the more pressing injuries to deal with than he did.

The doctor's diagnosis of Valon's condition was better than was expected but still pretty serious. Besides his broken arm, the Australian had several infected injuries and a moderately dangerous lung infection and three broken ribs; he had also sustained pretty mild internal damage in addition to being starved and dehydrated, but since Dr. Barton was not the doctor operating on Valon there was nothing more he could do.

The doctor had been more than surprised at the lack of serious injuries (outside of the obvious) and at the fact that Valon had survived the ordeal at all, but Raphael wasn't so surprised. Valon had grown up in the slums of Australia and had spent most of his life fighting tooth and nail to survive; he was able to take such a brutal punishment and come out of it alive.

The only reason Raphael was going home at all was because he was getting Valon some comfortable clothing to be put into—he knew very good and well that the Australian teenager despised hospital gowns (but then again, who didn't?) .

He went through the lobby and walked through the sliding doors, the chill from the wind stinging his face and biting at his hands; he should have remembered to grab a pair of gloves while he had been at home earlier, but that intruder from earlier had driven the thought from his mind.

It wasn't until he had walked to the parking lot area when he realized that his car was back at Akira's lair and his motorcycle was at home. He had also left his wallet back at the house, and that meant he couldn't call a taxi. He inwardly growled at his mistake.

"Were you planning to walk back to your home?"

Raphael jumped at the familiar voice, turning sharply to its owner.

Dartz was watching him quietly, leaning against the wall of a nearby building for support. He looked rather worn and weary, but his golden eyes were watching Raphael intently and yielding nothing of his inner thoughts.

Raphael bristled. "Perhaps I was," he replied, uneasiness and anger meshing together to form an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. "But it's not your concern what I do, now, is it?"

The Atlantean continued to watch him quietly. "You blame me for your family's death, do you not?"

The blonde man stiffened, narrowing his eyes. "What does it matter to you?" he growled. "You never bothered to care before, and I don't understand why you're bothering now."

Dartz sighed, his breath misting in the air. "I am merely surprised you've bottled your anger at me. Most people, if put through what you have endured, would not hesitate to exact revenge."

Raphael snorted, a bitter laugh escaping him. "It won't bring my family back from the dead, will it?"

"…A powerful argument."

Dartz tossed something in the air, the sound of soft jangling audible, and Raphael instinctively caught the tossed object. A brief flash of surprise rushed through him as he realized that they were car keys—_his _car keys, to be precise. He looked up at Dartz suspiciously.

"Oh please. It is not as if the mere act of returning your car keys—which you left with your vehicle—has an ulterior motive behind it," said Dartz.

He turned on his heel, drawing his dark cloak around him and pulling up the hood.

Raphael looked down at the keys in his hand, frowning, before he looked at the retreating figure. "Dartz."

The Atlantean halted, though he did not turn around.

"…Thank you."

"For what?"

"You saved Valon. For that, I thank you."

"Are you so confident that it was me? For all you know, the Pharaoh might have done it."

"We both know that isn't the case. The Pharaoh doesn't know how to free souls from the Orichalcos."

There was a long pause after that statement.

After a moment, Dartz turned back to face him, his eyes watching him from beneath the hood of his cloak. "I told you before—I took too much from all three of you. The least I can do now is to ensure that what you have left does not get taken."

Before Raphael could say anything more, the Atlantean walked forward into the shadow of a building, visible until his cloak melted into the darkness of the alleyway.

Raphael watched Dartz go for a moment longer before he continued on his way to the parking lot. Though he would never forgive the man for what had happened in the past, he couldn't help but be grateful that Dartz had helped Valon.

But that was all. Both Dartz and Raphael knew that there was nothing beyond that, no other reason that Raphael would have reason to thank Dartz for anything.

Because there are some wounds that do not heal over time.


	19. Winding Down

_PSYCHE!_

_You guys didn't REALLY think I would end it on that note, did you?_

_To be honest, if I had written everything as one big thing it would be too much in one sitting, so I split it up into two parts—which was why, in addition to school work, it was taking me so long to post._

_I still have the epilogue to write in addition to this chapter, so don't go away yet ;)_

* * *

Atem watched the doctor bandaging his leg quietly, wincing when the orderly's hand pressed down too hard on the cut there.

The group had at last arrived at the clinic, and they had all been besieged by doctors and nurses. Mokuba and Ryou (who, despite their protests, were barely able to stay awake), had been directed to soft beds. The remaining members of their group had been divided up into two large treating rooms; Anzu, Honda, Jounouchi, and Otogi had been directed to one, and Atem, Bakura, Seto, and Noa had been put into another.

The doctor apologized hastily, nonetheless continuing on with his task. "This is a pretty severe cut," he mused aloud. "How on earth did you get this?"

Bakura looked up from where he had been boredly watching a nurse nervously tend to his arm (she had done the same thing that the doctor tending to Atem had done, except Bakura did not possess Atem's manners and had exploded in a violent stream of Egyptian curses).

"Things not worth mentioning," he replied, growling when the nurse pressed too hard on his arm. The woman flinched anxiously, but Bakura did not snap at her and she began to work once again.

The doctor looked at Bakura eagerly. "Like what?"

Seto, who had already been examined by one of his personal doctors, rolled his eyes. "Things that employees on my pay roll shouldn't be inquiring about."

Noa grinned cheerfully at the now alarmed looking orderly. "No worries, I'll fill ya in. A giant black shadow named Howl kidnapped Princess Mononoke and we had to ride great giant fiery wolves that could fly to rescue the fair damsel. Howl was thiiiiiiis," and here Noa stretched his arms out as far as they could go, "big, and he was ugly too."

"…You're doped up on pain killers, aren't you?" asked Seto, taking note of Noa's glazed eyes. He looked to the doctor who had treated his stepbrother with an arched eyebrow, while the man shrugged helplessly.

With a sigh, Seto steered Noa from the room. "You're going to bed. You're speaking nonsense," the two Egyptians heard as Seto left the room.

Bakura quirked an eyebrow at the departed Kaibas. "That's an interesting character…" he mused.

Atem, looking at the orderlies first before looking up at Bakura, said in Egyptian, "It might be easier to host conversations in our own language than to have them eavesdrop."

Bakura nodded once. "Good. I was getting annoyed with our starry eyed enthusiastic friend," he said in his native language, jerking his head at Atem's doctor.

"How do you suppose we should explain what's happened this evening to the police? No doubt they have plenty of questions for us."

"I don't suppose we have any of the other Millennium Items on hand—namely the Millennium Rod?"

"…Brainwashing them to forget?"

"Why not?"

Atem sighed. "The Millennium Items aren't with me. I felt them vanish when Zorc was defeated—I don't know where they went. We still have ours, so that means the other Items are not destroyed. But I don't know how much power that they have on them still; for all we know, they could have returned to their owners in this time."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Oh well that's just great."

The orderlies had stopped treating their patients to stare at the two Egyptians in awe. "Where are you from?" asked the orderly.

Bakura growled, yanking his arm from the nurse irritably. "None of your concern, mortal," he snapped, stalking out of the room.

Atem excused himself from the room as he followed after Bakura, catching up to him in a few limping strides. "We can't really worry about this until we know more. Until we figure out where the remaining Items went, we can't do much except wait."

The silver haired tomb raider rolled his eyes. "I hate waiting," he muttered, noticing that the others were out in the waiting area. "And I hate crowds."

Anzu smiled in relief as she noticed Atem come toward them, and she rose unsteadily to her feet. "Are you feeling better, Atem?" she asked.

"I'll be better after a good night's rest," he replied good-naturedly.

"Yeah, same here," said Jounouchi, yawning widely. Noticing that Atem was still looking around the room, he said, "Kaiba took Mokuba and Noa home already. He said that we can get a ride home in one of his limos, and that he's covering the hospital expenses for both us and for Raphael and his friends."

"I'm lucky my parents are out of town," said Anzu sleepily, stretching. "They'd be blowing a gasket right about now."

"Speak for yourself," said Honda grumpily. "My parents are going to have a conniption. I'm lucky my dad was off tonight and not where we were."

"Eh," said Jounouchi dismissively. "I'll go with ya—if I am with ya your parents won't get as mad. 'Sides, my old man isn't gonna be pleased either, and I don't wanna mess with him tonight."

"Mind if I go over with you guys?" asked Otogi.

"Actually, Grandpa knows where we all are," said Yugi, coming up from behind them suddenly. "We can stay at my house for the night and let your parents know that you simply forgot about the time."

Bakura shook his head. "As I mentioned before, I don't do crowds," he said irritably.

Ryou appeared as well, rubbing his eyes. "As much as we would like to stay, Yugi, I'm very tired and I'd rather sleep in my own bed."

"That's not a problem at all," said Yugi cheerfully. "If I know Kaiba any, he left his chauffeur with instructions to accommodate us and drop us off."

Ryou shook his head and smiled wearily. "Actually, Yugi, this clinic isn't too far away from home—a good ten minutes walk from here."

"No ya don't," said Jounouchi firmly. "We're still gonna drop you two guys off. You can't even stand straight, Ryou."

Despite Ryou's protests, the blonde teenager marched the white-haired teen outside to where, presumably, Seto's limousine was waiting for them. Honda and Otogi got on either side of Bakura and frog marched the thief outside as well, pointedly ignoring Bakura's vehement threats. Anzu shook her head, following after them and saying something along the lines of, "rescuing Ryou."

Yugi looked to where Atem was standing silently and asked, "Is something bothering you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You look bothered, and your feelings are being transmitted through the mind link. Something's bothering you," said Yugi simply.

Atem gave his counterpart an amused look. "I forgot about that, didn't I?" His smile faded, and he looked at Yugi seriously. **Actually, I was worried about the remaining Millennium Items and their whereabouts.**

_Do they have to do with you going back to the afterlife?_

Atem didn't stop walking at the mental message, instead sending a reassuring feeling through the link. **I have already told you, Yugi—I am not going back there. But I do need to locate the five remaining Items and make sure that they do not fall into the wrong hands once again.**

_That makes sense,_ replied Yugi thoughtfully, hurrying alongside Atem as the Egyptian walked to the clinic entrance.

**I have explained the matter to Bakura, since he is also linked to the Items. For now, though, all I wish to do is rest, **said Atem wryly through the link.

Yugi smiled at him. "Right now, I think everyone here wants to do that," he said aloud.

* * *

Alister leaned back on the chair, highly tempted to go to sleep but not yet willing to do that.

His chest ached from where the Orichalcos monster's talons had pierced him, but he ignored it as usual. A nurse had already tended to him, bandaging to gouges that the monsters claws had left behind; she had also taken care of his earlier improperly treated injuries. He wished that these seats were more comfortable—it felt as if he was sitting on a rock. But right now, even though he was exhausted, he was grateful for the hardness of the seat.

He couldn't sleep until Valon was out of the operating room.

Raphael hadn't yet returned from the house, but he'd received a call on his cell phone from the blonde ten minutes ago. He was en route to the hospital, he'd said, and he would be there quickly. If Alister was readin the clock right, though, that would not be long. Traffic was dead around this time in the morning. Raphael would most likely get held up by one of the doctors to get his shoulder bandaged and any other injuries that he had sustained this evening, but beyond that Alister saw no other reason for a delay.

"Are you okay?"

The red-haired man blinked away the black dots in his vision, his gray eyes landing on a nurse who was watching him. "I was on my way back from checking up on some patients, and I noticed that you looked awfully pale. Do you need a doctor?"

Alister shook his head wearily. "No. One already looked at me earlier this evening, and now I'm waiting for one of my friends to get out of the operating room. Thank you for your concern," he replied tiredly.

The woman studied him thoughtfully, her brown eyes worried. "Do you want some coffee? You look like you're going to keel over any second now."

Alister opened his mouth to decline the offer, since he didn't drink coffee, but thought better of it when he remembered how exhausted Raphael had looked earlier. "Yes, actually. One cup, black, no cream or sugar."

"All right, I'll be right back with it," she said cheerfully, turning to leave.

"Don't you need me to pay for it?"

"Oh no. I'm getting it from the workroom—just don't tell anyone that I did that," she whispered conspiratorially, her eyes sparkling in mischief.

Alister nodded, allowing a small smile to quirk the corner of his mouth, but said nothing further as the woman disappeared around a corner. A few moments later, she returned with a steaming white mug. "Here you are. I need to go back to work now, but I hope your friend's okay," she said, disappearing once more from Alister's line of sight.

He set the mug on the nearby coffee table and sighed, tipping his head back against the wall and closing his eyes; the harsh white walls around him were hurting his tired eyes and he could barely focus on it.

"You look comfy," said a familiar and welcome voice. Alister cracked one of his eyes open and looked up at Raphael. His injured arm was in a sling, which meant Alister had been right about his earlier suspicion.

"I'm not," he grunted, sitting up straighter. "And this is for you," he said, handing Raphael the coffee mug.

Raphael thanked him. "I would have been here sooner, but one of the orderlies wouldn't let me leave until he'd taken care of my shoulder," he said, taking the mug from him and then taking a drink from it. He grimaced as he set the mug on the table. "Hospital coffee isn't the greatest in the world, but it'll work," he said, sitting beside Alister.

The redhead looked over at him. "Valon hasn't come out yet. Nobody's talked to me about him," said Alister. "No one came while you were gone, either."

"…He's been in there for a couple of hours now."

"Of course he has. From what that doctor told us, it's a miracle he's alive at all."

Raphael sighed, taking another sip from the mug. He looked down at the coffee, studying it with his ice blue eyes. "…When I went out to go home, Dartz was waiting outside the hospital," said Raphael conversationally, causing the other biker's head to snap up sharply.

"_What?"_ Alister's voice sounded clipped.

"Yeah, my reaction as well," said the blonde, and his voice sounded wearied. The older man seemed to be years older as he looked at Alister. "It turns out we left our car keys in the car, and he was returning it to me."

Alister studied him with gray eyes. "What else? You wouldn't look like that unless there was something else."

Raphael looked at the redhead with tired amusement. "Valon's right—you really are a mind reader, aren't you?" he joked, but the amusement did not reach his eyes and the slight smile vanished after a moment. "Yeah, there was something else."

Alister said nothing, waiting for the blonde to continue speaking.

"He confirmed that he helped Valon," said Raphael quietly. "And right now, I'm not sure if I should be grateful that he helped out or still be angry at him for what he did back in DOOM."

The redhead looked as if he wanted to reply, but at that moment Dr. Barton came around the corner, scanning the room with his eyes until they landed on Raphael and Alister. "There you two are!" he said, and there was relief etched into his face.

Raphael knew what that expression meant, but he felt as if he should ask anyway. "Is Valon going to be all right?"

Beside him, he could feel Alister stiffen and he himself was tense. Valon had come back from Death's door…if he had gone back there again there was no telling what he would do.

"It was touch and go at first," began Dr. Barton. "but your friend isn't a quitting kind of person. He's recovering and should be able to go home by next week. We just want to monitor the lung infection and make certain that a few of his injuries heal properly."

"Can we see him?" asked Alister, his gray eyes watching the middle aged man intently.

Dr. Barton hesitated. "Hospital policy dictates that visiting hours ended at eight o'clock this evening," he said slowly, noticing the looks on Raphael's and Alister's faces. "But I don't see the harm in letting you two in to see him. I can guarantee five minutes, tops."

"That's fine by us," said Raphael, feeling almost dizzy with relief.

Dr. Barton smiled. "Then follow me, gentlemen."

* * *

_Ow…ouch, oh bloody…I feel like I jus' came out o' a meat grinder. Boy, my 'ead is killin' me…wha' 'appened to me, anyhow? I 'member somethin' 'bout bein' at Akira's lair, and somethin' 'bout Raph and Alister findin' me. But where are they at now? Might be 'elpful if I opened my eyes t' figure out where 'm at now…_

_GAH! Big mistake, BIG mistake! Too bright! Ack! I think 'm blind…it would figure. I live on'y to go blind…unless… _

_Did I die?_

_No…'m sure 'eaven doesn' beep every few seconds and smell like rubbin' alcohol. At least, 'm pretty sure—Mother Mary never really specified whether it did or not, but then again…naw, 'm pretty sure 'm at a hospital._

_That explains the bloody whiteness. _

_…Oh _please_ don' tell me they put me in an 'ospital gown. I can' stand those things._

_'ang on a minute, though…I 'ear voices…they're familiar…I know those voices. Should I try t' open my eyes again?_

_Eh, wha' th' 'eck. If 'm dreamin', it's a nice one._

_Oh good, someone turned th' bloody light off…there're two blurred faces I can' quite make out, and I can' entirely understand what they're sayin', but I know who's there. It makes me wanna smile, knowin' tha'._

_Sorry, fellas…'m really sleepy…but it looks like you'll both still be 'ere when I wake up…I jus' wish I could stay awake longer…_

_See ya in a bit…_

* * *

Mokuba yawned widely, rubbing his blue-gray eyes wearily and stumbling out of the limousine.

Seto shook his head, a soft smile on his face as he watched Mokuba, and despite the aches and dull pain his body was in carefully and tenderly scooped his youngest brother into his arms. "Come on, kiddo," he said. "Let's get you to bed."

He felt a tug on his trenchcoat and looked down at Noa, who was using him as a crutch. His blue eyes were clouded and he was half asleep as well. "S'to, 'm s'eepy. Can' see st'aight."

Seto sighed. "At least you aren't spouting nonsense anymore," he said, but he bent down nonetheless. "Climb on," he said, readjusting his now one-armed grip on Mokuba.

Noa clambered up onto his back and draped his good arm around the brunette's neck, falling asleep almost instantly. After a few seconds of readjustment, Seto once again headed for the mansion.

He hadn't bothered to stick around the clinic once he was finished, instead choosing to get Mokuba and Noa home and to bed; the only detour he had made had been at the hospital, to notify the doctors there that he was paying for any medical expenses that Raphael and his friends needed (after all, he'd lent a hand to Yugi and his friends—he figured he would do the same for the three bikers).

Roland came up alongside him abruptly. "Do you want me to get the door, Mr. Kaiba?" he asked. He personally felt that, in his condition, Seto shouldn't be carrying either of his brothers—at the very least, he should let someone help him with Noa. But he knew his employer well enough to know the answer to that particular question, and so he volunteered with the door instead.

Seto nodded once, allowing his head of security to get the front door of his mansion open. As he passed Roland he frowned, noticing that there was a cut on the man's forehead. "Did you get that looked at?" he asked, dipping his head toward Roland.

The older man looked startled. "Do I have a cut, sir?" he asked, putting an investigative hand on his forehead.

Seto grunted, slipping in the house. He turned briefly to face Roland and said curtly, "Get that fixed. Last thing we need is for my head of security to be rendered useless due to a concussion."

"Yes sir," said Roland, turning on the spot and heading back to his car.

Seto wanted to allow concern that Roland had been hurt—Mokuba had told him earlier about the car accident—but at the same moment understood that Roland most likely had interpreted that for himself. After all, the man was one of his most trusted employees, and he'd been there longer than the other security men had.

Seto sighed, shutting the door behind him with his foot and carefully navigating up the stairs. He headed for Mokuba's room first, setting his raven-haired brother on his mattress. He then padded down the hall to Noa's room; after he got his stepbrother comfortably settled in his bed, Seto returned and did the same thing for Mokuba.

After he made certain that both of his brothers were bed ready and bidding them goodnight, Seto tottered into his own room, got into his pajamas, and for the first time in a long time went to bed.

He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Thank you for the ride," said Ryou gratefully to the chauffeur.

Thomas grinned back at him. "No problem," he said cheerfully. "Lucky thing I'm a nocturnal sort of person, huh? Have a good night," he said as Bakura shut the car door. As Ryou turned to head into his house, he heard the limousine back out of the drive way and head down the road.

He dug in his pocket for the keys and pulled them out, fitting the correct one into the lock and opening the door. Bakura instantly surged past him and into the warm interior of the house, muttering something about, "wretched snow."

"Do you need to eat, Bakura?" asked Ryou as he took off his coat and hung it up. "You haven't had anything but pocky all day long."

"I'll get my own food. You go to bed," said Bakura flatly, hanging up his coat as well.

Ryou blinked in surprise. "You can cook?"

"Obviously, descendent. Otherwise I wouldn't have survived back in Egypt—though I do like my meat rare," said the thief, a wicked grin splitting his features.

Ryou shook his head in exasperation. "You can get diseases from raw meat, you know."

"I'm five thousand years old. I'll manage," said Bakura dismissively, padding into the kitchen. Ryou followed after him to get a cup of team for himself, but Bakura blocked the way.

"Bakura, can I get by you?"

"No. Go to bed, Hikari."

"I have to eat too," said Ryou. "If you go to bed without eating anything, it makes you sick."

"I know that," said Bakura abruptly. He looked at Ryou's determined face, however, and he sighed heavily."Fine. Get something to eat and go to bed."

Ryou wondered why on earth the older tomb robber was so bothered about Ryou still being up—Bakura himself had often stayed up long into the early hours of the morning when he had been inside of the Millennium Ring—but then he caught a glimpse of his counterpart's eyes and understood.

Bakura confirmed it a moment later with, "You've been running around all day and then to top that off you lost your soul. You can't very well cook if you're too tired to see straight," he finished, an edge in his voice.

Ryou also understood that the last part of that sentence was a lie and not the real reason Bakura wanted him to rest.

"But I'm fine now," said Ryou simply. "I'll get myself a quick something to eat, and then I'll go to bed. Fair enough?"

Bakura watched him intently to see if his counterpart was lying, but couldn't find whatever it was that he was looking for and nodded. "Whatever," he said.

Ryou moved past Bakura and headed for the refrigerator, but was surprised again when the tomb raider blocked his way and made him sit down. "I'll cook this time," he said flatly. "You've done enough for one day. But don't expect this from me every time," snapped Bakura. "You can get your own food tomorrow."

The albino teenager nodded amicably. "That's fair enough."

Bakura busied himself in the refrigerator, before finding leftover roast beef and pulling it out. He set the container on the counter before he looked at where Ryou was sitting. "Descendent," he said curtly.

The other teen looked up at him wordlessly, a curious expression on his face.

"For what it's worth…I'm glad that you're all right," he said gruffly, instantly busying himself with heating up the roast beef.

Ryou felt surprised. "You are?" he asked, watching Bakura intently.

"Yes…" said Bakura reluctantly. Noticing the look in Ryou's eyes he added hastily, "But only because you can cook, do you understand? It's not like I care or anything like that, how dare you suggest something so absurd?"

Ryou felt a strong sense of déjà vu as the events from earlier than morning replayed themselves in the kitchen, and he once again debated on pointing out that he hadn't said anything like what Bakura was implying.

Like before, however, he ignored it and said simply, "Thank you for making dinner."

Bakura scowled. "Don't get used to this, descendent," he grunted, taking the plate out of the microwave and distributing the meat onto two plates. He handed one to Ryou and said impatiently, "Now eat it and go to bed, for pity's sake."

Ryou gave a small smile. "All right, Bakura," he replied.

* * *

"I am soo tired," yawned Jounouchi, heading for the sleeping bag that was on the floor. "I'm goin' to bed, and Heaven help the guy who stops me."

"Same here," said Otogi, heading for another one.

Yugi and his friends had arrived back at the game store to find that Yugi's grandpa had already made arrangements with Honda's parents (who had been told that their son was at the arcade) and had even set up sleeping bags in the den for the group. Anzu was the only one sleeping on the sofa, but aside from that everyone else had a sleeping bag on the floor.

"I knew I should've brought some clothes to change into," muttered Honda, realizing that his outfit was dirty.

Jounouchi grinned, holding up several changes of clothing. "Good thing that the shop is my home away from home," he said, passing out the clothes. "Otherwise I'd have to do laundry at my dad's."

Anzu held up one of Jounouchi's shirts and inspected it, sniffing it before rising to her feet and beginning to limp to the bathroom. "Smells clean, at any rate," she commented as she disappeared into the room.

Jounouchi flushed. "What, you really think I would pass out dirty laundry for my friends to wear?" he asked, a scowl on his face.

Everyone looked at him wordlessly.

"Aw, c'mon, I'm not that bad, am I?!"

Yugi laughed. "We're just kidding, Jounouchi," he said in amusement as he disappeared upstairs to get his own pajamas. Atem came back down the stairs (since he was roughly Yugi's height he shared clothing) and instantly settled into his sleeping bag.

"You look awful tired, Atem," said Jounouchi, noticing the shadows under the Egyptian's eyes.

Atem smirked ruefully. "I am tired. It takes a lot of work summoning Horakhty, and I am only sorry I can't keep my eyes open to interact with you and the others right now."

"Eh, no worries," said Honda. "We understand, man. Go right on ahead and go to sleep."

Atem smiled then, before stifling a yawn and burrowing in his sleeping bag. He was asleep in seconds.

"Poor guy. He can't ever catch a break," said Honda softly.

"All he needs is a good night's rest," said Jounouchi. "He'll be all right in the morning."

Anzu came out of the bathroom wearing one of Jounouchi's larger t-shirts and a pair of extremely baggy pants.

"Keep your voice down, Anzu," said Honda, jerking a thumb to where Atem was sleeping.

She nodded in understanding, but then sighed and said, "I don't suppose anyone has a belt, do they?" she asked, keeping a grip on the pants to hold them up.

"Yugi should have a spare one you can use," said Otogi, slipping into the bathroom next.

"You're the only girl I know that would willingly dress in guy clothes to go to bed," said Jounouchi, looking over at her. "Hope you know that."

Anzu rolled her eyes. "I'll take what I can get—any self-respect I had was lost when I started hanging around you guys."

Honda clapped a hand over his heart and feigned a hurt expression. "That cut me to the quick, Anzu. It really did," he said dramatically. His face cleared after a moment and he said slyly, "You do realize that when you say that you include Yugi with 'us guys'."

Anzu flushed, realizing that as well. "Honda, you know perfectly well what I meant," she said, planting her hands on her hips.

Jounouchi lifted his shirt off and over his head, pulling on a new one as he said, "And you looped poor Otogi into it as well, Zuzu."

Anzu whirled on him abruptly, her eyes spitting fire. "Jounouchi, do NOT call me that name," she said dangerously, keeping her voice low to avoid waking Atem.

The blonde teenager waved a hand dismissively at her. "You can't do anything to stop me. I don't have a bum ankle and—"

Jounouchi didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, for the thrown couch pillow hit his face at that point and ended whatever thought he had been about to finish.

Otogi came out of the bathroom, passing Honda as the other boy disappeared into the room. "I could hear you guys through the door, you know," he commented. He got into his sleeping bag and rolled over in it, facing away from the group. Since he said nothing after that, it was safe to assume that he was also asleep.

Jounouchi picked up the fallen couch pillow and chucked it back at Anzu. "Present for you."

Anzu caught it easily and, after fluffing it, set it under her head and pulled the blanket up over her. As an afterthought she lifted her head up and said, "Good night, Jounouchi."

"What…wait a minute, didn't you need a belt?"

"Not anymore."

Jounouchi stared at where Anzu was currently lying, then shook his head in disgust. "Women. I'm never going to understand them," he muttered, settling into his sleeping bag. In a few minutes, he was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

Honda came out of the bathroom, noticed everyone else was asleep, and muttered, "Well, don't wait on my account. Go right ahead and go to sleep."

Nonetheless, he also was soon asleep, leaving only Yugi awake. And even then, it wasn't too long after Honda fell asleep that the shorter teenager came down the stairs once again, heading directly for his sleeping bag. He kept quiet, slowly easing himself into the sleeping bag until he was all the way in, and then he set his head on the pillow.

He was almost asleep before he remembered what Atem had said back at the clinic and he said through the link, _Atem, what was it you were telling me back at the clinic?_

**…I was going to let you know about a conversation that Bakura and I had about the Millennium Items, but I think this will have to wait until morning, **came the sleepy reply through the link.

Yugi agreed, then yawned widely and carefully settled into his bag. Within moments he had joined his friends and was fast asleep.


	20. Epilogue

_Oh holy crap. This truly is it....this is the last chapter of this story. After three years, after many writer's blocks and edits, after many file losses and computer breakdowns, this story will finally have the "Complete" status. I never thought this day would come...but it has. I might come back through this chapter and flesh it out a little more, but for now here it is._

_Thank you to every single one of my reviewers who followed this story and fed me with praises and helpful criticisms; if it hadn't been for you, I would have given up on this a long time ago. You all were so patient with me and my ridiculously slow updates, and words can't express how truly grateful I am that you've done that._

_One final note of the story: Misa appears in my oneshot, "Surprise," as well as making several appearances in "Come Together."_

_With that said, you may read._

* * *

The whole business with Akira had pretty much been settled the day after everything had happened.

In the first place, it had been established that Akira was dead. There was no doubt about that, but it did not mean that there might be more to it. The night after the battle with Zorc, Atem and Bakura had searched through the rubble for the remaining Millennium Items. They had not found one of them, which told Atem that they had gone somewhere else; they weren't underground because Atem and Bakura still had their Items.

They also could not conclusively prove that Zorc was dead. It made both of the Egyptians uncomfortable, but it could not be helped. If Zorc was alive, though, it would be a while yet before he would regain his strength and by that point Atem would simply step in and stop Zorc from regaining his full power.

Much to Yugi's surprise, the police did not come to interrogate him or any of Yugi's friends; though the people they had rescued had positively identified them, a mysterious phone call to the police station told the police that Yugi and his friends had only been in the right place at the right time. The caller also told the police that Yugi was not responsible for what had happened on the roof (which was true to an extent—Atem had been the one who had initiated that final Shadow Game).

Yugi had a pretty good idea that Dartz had been behind that call, but he also understood that the man would not show up for a while yet, if ever. Whether or not that choice had something to do with the bikers was not known, but Yugi had not heard from Dartz or seen him since that night at Akira's lair.

After that first day, though, Yugi and his friends were finally able to enjoy the break in their own and various ways.

* * *

"…Astrologers are scrambling to figure out why we had an unpredicted meteor shower three evenings ago—"

_Click._

"Police are still baffled by the events that occurred three days ago at an abandoned corporate building. The old Paradius building—formerly belonging to one Tsukasa Akira—was seen with a dark cloud around its tower before abruptly bursting into flame and collapsing. As of today, no casualties have been reported—"

_Click._

"—has also been mention of monsters running rampant at the scene, but since then no contact has been reported. The non-police participants of that night refused to divulge their identities, but agreed to give the police a brief explanation. Tune in for—"

_Click._

"Tsukasa Akira was believed to have died in the flames, as claimed by our anonymous source, but if he had survived he would have faced criminal charges—"

"Oh for crying out loud," snapped Noa, turning the television off and dropping the remote on the couch. "Could they stop going on about that? It happened three days ago, and they're acting like it's the end of the world."

Seto rolled his eyes but didn't look away from his computer screen. "A building blows up with no apparent reason, a dark cloud of evil not-niceness hangs over the building, monsters run rampant in the area, and the owner of the building has not been seen since. You do the math. We could be seeing this for weeks, if not months."

The three brothers were assembled in Seto's home office, simply relaxing; Seto was finishing up a few last minute documents from work, Mokuba was playing a game on his Game Boy, and Noa had been watching the television until a few moments before. The Kaibas were just grateful for the break and planning on doing nothing further until they were sufficiently rested.

Roland and his nephew, along with the rest of the Kaiba Corporation employees, had been allowed to leave early on their Christmas break; Thomas had gone home for the break but promised to be back by New Year's Day, while Roland stayed with his own family in town. Seto himself was merely finishing up the last of the year's paperwork before he would go on his own break and not touch his laptop again.

Mokuba looked up from the video game he was playing. "Seto, I noticed we haven't appeared in the news, except to confirm that you're…well, alive," he said, referring to the press conference that Seto had called together the day after the events at Akira's lair. It had been necessary to deny Kaiba Corporation involvement with the Orichalcos soldiers once again. "It's weird. I thought someone would have seen at least one of us or identified us."

The brunette actually looked away from his computer at that comment. "That's because no one has quite figured out that we were there at all; we hung back away from the police when Roland took us there, just to avoid them. Even if they do figure it out, it's not as if I'm going to tell them the whole truth: would anyone believe anything we said about what happened on the roof?"

This was also true. Though the press conference had been necessary, Seto and his brothers had stayed out of the spotlight as much as possible; aside from Seto anonymously sending the documents to the police that he'd downloaded from Akira's mainframe to convict the man, they'd not done anything that related to Akira since that night.

"So…has anyone barged down Yugi's door to figure out what is going on?" asked Noa curiously. "Kinda hard to miss a guy with that kind of hair, even in that crowd."

"Not to my express knowledge. If they have talked to the police, then we should see it on the news fairly soon," Seto replied. "It's doubtful they will do that—Yugi never was one for the spotlight, let alone half his friends, and I'm sure that even the mutt doesn't want publicity over this."

"And what about Alister and his friends?" the raven-haired Kaiba asked. He'd been harboring a small amount of concern for the three, since they had been involved with the whole ordeal longer than any of them had. "Has anyone bothered them about what happened?"

"The hospital their friend—Valon, right?—is at did tell the police that several people were injured," said Seto. "However, we can thank doctor-patient confidentiality for keeping all injured persons identities' a secret. Concerning Alister, it's to my understanding that he's told the basic truth about Valon's injuries: that he was beaten nigh unto death."

Noa frowned. "How'd you know that? Did you go over there and see them?"

Seto merely smirked in reply, dipping his head to his laptop expectantly. After a moment, the shorter Kaiba got the message and slapped his forehead. "Right, I forgot. I'm talking to someone who likes to hack into places he shouldn't be."

The brunette, still smirking, rose to his feet after putting away his laptop and pulling the pages from he'd printed out from the printer. He set the papers in his briefcase and then set the briefcase on the floor by his desk. "My work here is done," he announced. "Now, Mokuba, I do believe you wanted to do something about decorating the mansion in time for Christmas Eve—it seems that I now have the time to do that."

The child instantly put his game down, blue-gray eyes widening in excitement. "Really? Seto, you mean that?" he asked breathlessly.

"I had the impression that I generally mean what I say," said Seto flatly, his blue eyes amused. He winced as one of the injuries on his chest flared briefly, but ignored it. "Let's just get up what we can before the end of today. I don't prefer to put up an inordinate amount of decorations just to take it down after Christmas."

Noa sidled innocently toward the door. "You two have fun. I'll just take my crippled self out of here and—"

"Crippled my foot. I'm hurt worse than you are," said Seto sardonically, catching the mint-haired Kaiba's shirt collar and dragging him backward. "Now come on, Gimpy. We're decorating."

"Can I exercise my First Amendment rights?" asked Noa, futilely trying to tug himself free from the brunette.

"In this house there is a dictatorship. You have no rights."

Mokuba giggled into his hands at the banter passing in between his older brother and his stepbrother, following after them as they left the room. It seemed things had once more returned to normal, despite the injuries sustained.

Noa looked back at the black haired child and scoffed. "And what's so funny, mister?" he asked, freeing himself at last from Seto. "I'm not doing anything one armed and you can't—OUCH!"

Seto had grabbed Noa's ear as the boy had tried to leave, keeping his grip on it as he continued forward. Ignoring the younger Kaiba's squawks of painful protest, the brunette looked to Mokuba and said, "Let's get to work."

Mokuba nodded happily, practically bouncing out of the room. Noa was released, and after trying once more to escape (in which Seto caught him by the hair this time) the shorter teen gave up and followed after the child, muttering under his breath all the way.

Seto allowed a tiny smile on his face as he followed after his brothers. It seemed that life had settled down for them, and things were back to normal.

…As normal as anything ever was involving them, anyway.

* * *

"Aw, c'mon! 'm feelin' better!"

"No."

"Pleaaase? 'm goin' mad sittin' in this bed 'n' doin' nothin'!"

Alister looked at his younger companion, shaking his head in exasperation. "Three days ago you were on Death's Door. You honestly expect the doctors to let you out just because you say so?" he asked.

Valon looked back at him. "Please, Alister? I'll stay nice 'n' quiet on the couch and munch on 'tato chips. 'eck, I'll even be nice t' ya, if you just lemme come 'ome!" the teenager exclaimed. "The nurses keep proddin' me 'wake at early 'ours of th' mornin' to get m' temperature and what-not. It's 'nough t' drive a body mad!"

"Not my call, Valon," said Alister flatly.

The teen folded his good arm across his chest and pouted. "I really don' wanna celebrate Christmas Eve in th' 'ospital," he grumbled, stifling a cough.

Alister handed him a glass of water mutely, regarding the younger biker thoughtfully. Certainly, the brunette looked much better than he had three days ago; after being admitted the boy had slept for a day and a half, not rousing even when the nurses came in. Since he'd arrived, though, his health had taken a turn for the better and already some of the worse injuries were halfway closed; all that really lingered was the lung infection, the broken arm, and bruises and cuts of moderate severity.

Emotionally, it seemed that he was no worse for the wear from the ordeal. However, any mention of Akira caused Valon's cheerful blue eyes to darken and a scowl would fix itself on his face. "The bloke c'n rot f'r all I care," he had said darkly when the subject had been first been brought up.

Raphael had disappeared earlier in the day, claiming that there were a few errands he needed to run. The teenager had been asleep when Raphael had left, and Alister ended up watching _CSI_ reruns on the room's television until the boy had woken up.

Valon set the now-empty glass down before looking at the red-haired biker. "'ey, Alister? 'ave you found Misa yet?"

Alister shook his head. "I'm afraid not," he replied, keeping the heaviness from his voice.

Much to all three biker's dismay, the small but friendly kitten that Valon had brought home with him several months ago had vanished without a trace; Alister and Raphael both suspected the feline had fled the house when Akira's men had ambushed them there. Alister had been around the neighborhood and let the neighbors know about the missing cat, but he hadn't kept his hopes up about her. They might have noticed sooner that she hadn't been around, but Valon and the events of three days previous had driven Misa from their minds.

There was a knock at the door, followed by it opening and a familiar figure slipping into the room. "I never realized how hard it was to do things one-armed," said Raphael in annoyance, glancing down at the sling that kept his injured shoulder immobile.

"'allo, Raph!" chirped Valon cheerfully, a broad grin stretching his face. "Been wonderin' where you went off to."

The older blonde pulled the door to a semi-closed position behind him before using his good hand to brush a few stray snowflakes from his shoulder. "I had to do some last minute errands," he replied. "I also had to talk to the doctors about something."

"Can I go 'ome?" asked Valon earnestly, blue eyes hopeful. "I'll stay still as a mouse. I swear! Jus' lemme 'ome!"

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're bored?" he asked, though he knew the real reason well enough. "Don't worry about it. As long as you're quiet and you stay in bed at the house, the doctors say you can come home tonight."

Valon grinned widely and pumped his good arm into the air. "Yes!" he crowed. "I'll be free! Free, I tell ya!" he said, beginning to cackle madly.

"What part of, 'stay quiet' didn't you understand?" asked Alister irritably, but Raphael noticed that the other biker's eyes were relieved. Raphael himself was happy—not one of the three preferred being in the hospital longer than necessary.

A nurse's startled cry caused them to jump, and all three bikers looked at the door. Alister and Raphael tensed, wondering just what on earth could possibly happen now. Hadn't they been through enough already?

Several doctor's voices joined together, yelling something incoherent, and Alister frowned. He moved for the door, deciding to shut it and muffle the commotion outside the room.

Before he could, though, a small blur came through the door, leaving a muddy trail of pawprints behind it; startled, Alister shut the door all the way. The creature made a beeline for Raphael first, weaving in and out of his legs and rubbing against them affectionately. It repeated the process with Alister before leaping to the bed. It settled on Valon's lap and began to purr moments later, confirming that it was a cat.

"…Either of you two know what's going on?" asked Alister at last.

On a sudden hunch Raphael went to the bed and picked up the feline, holding it out at arm's length to inspect it. It was damp, its fur weighed down by wet or still drying mud; it was also thin, but not to the point of unhealthiness. A familiar pair of green eyes looked at him from beneath the mud and grime, and the blonde let out a disbelieving laugh. "Misa?"

Misa meowed loudly, her purring audible to the other bikers. Raphael had no idea where the cat had been or how she had gotten past everyone in the hospital (or even how she knew where the three of them were to begin with), but she was here now, letting them know she was happy to see them again. Raphael set her back on the bed, wiping his hands on a hand towel.

Valon's eyes lit up in delight and he reached for her, uncaring of how dirty Misa was. "There ya are, you crazy cat! We were wonderin' what 'appened t' ya!" he said happily, using his unbandaged arm to pet the feline. Misa soaked up the attention, purring madly all the while and closing her eyes contentedly.

Alister and Raphael exchanged amused glances before looking at Valon and Misa; it seemed that everything was on its way to being normal again, and after all the chaos of the past two weeks it was a welcome change.

At length, Alister said flatly, "If anyone asks, we didn't see a cat come in here and we've gone temporarily blind."

Raphael's eyebrow arched, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.. "What cat?"

* * *

"A-A…ACHOO!"

Ryou winced, handing Bakura another box of tissues as he said, "God bless you."

Bakura sniffled, huddling miserably in the thick blanket on the sofa and peering out at the world through a small opening in the blanket. "Stupid abysmal snow…" he muttered, glaring balefully at the white snow gently falling outside.

Seeing how as Bakura was the only one of the group that hadn't worn clothing to protect him from the cold, the Egyptian had caught a cold that had manifested yesterday morning. Since then, the silver-haired thief had been sitting on the sofa, alternating between cursing the Pharaoh ("How dare that self-righteous—achoo!—king drag me into his mess?!"), Akira ("He better be glad he's dead, because if he was alive I'd—achoo!—make him die a painfully slow and miserable death!"), and the snow.

Which, judging by how many snot-filled tissues were on the floor, was going to happen just about—

Bakura rose to his feet and pointed dramatically at the window. "I WILL defeat you one day, you fiend! Just you wait!" he snarled, the effect of his threat lost as he sneezed violently and dove under the blanket again.

Ryou sighed, getting to his feet and gingerly picking up the crumpled tissues on the floor. "Could you at least try to throw away the tissue when you use it?" asked Ryou tiredly, placing the tissues in the trashcan and then setting the basket near his counterpart.

Bakura scowled, sniffling again before deliberately dropping the tissue on the ground. "We never used such things back in my time," he snapped, hissing as one of his injuries throbbed in protest.

"That was then," said Ryou firmly, picking up the tissue and holding it out to Bakura. "This is now. Please throw them away."

Bakura raised an eyebrow as he took the tissue back from Ryou. "You've grown a backbone, descendent," he remarked, dropping his tissue into the wastebasket.

Ryou blinked in surprise. "What?"

"When I was around here initially I was able to push you around all the time. It seems you're finally pushing back," said the tomb raider, not looking at his look-alike.

"…Did you just compliment me?"

"You're still as weak as ever, though, so don't get any big ideas," said Bakura, scowling at Ryou. "I'm still the boss around here!"

Ryou smiled. "I'm going to guess and say that you did just compliment me."

The silver haired Egyptian's scowl deepened and he looked away. "Believe what you want, mortal."

Ryou's smile grew, and he went into the kitchen to make some hot cocoa. Bakura's scowl did not fade until the other boy was safely out of sight, at which point a thoughtful frown appeared on his features.

Since that night with Akira, he and the Pharaoh had been discussing the fate of the five remaining Millennium Items intermittently. They'd been to the wreckage of the former Paradius headquarters—which was also the source of his cold—and used the Millennium Ring to search through the rubble and twisted metal. Their search had been futile; not one Item remained in the area.

This meant that either the Items had returned to their original location, deep beneath the earth (both of the Egyptians doubted this was the case, seeing how as they both still had their own Items), or they had returned to their former owners; after everyone had sufficiently recovered from what had happened, the Pharaoh would get in touch with the Ishtars and Pegasus.

No one was sure how to get a hold of Shadi, and to be honest Bakura did not _want _to see that man. But since they had no one else who knew more about the Items, it seemed that they would have to try and find the enigmatic Egyptian as soon as was humanly possible.

Ryou returned to the room, prompting Bakura to replace his scowl. He took the offered mug from his counterpart with a frown. "What on earth is that?" Bakura asked, eyeing the brown liquid with distaste.

"Hot cocoa. It's good, it'll warm you right up," said Ryou, taking an experimental sip from the drink.

Bakura eyed it a little longer before saying "Bottoms up," and taking a big gulp of the beverage.

…There is a reason we call it "HOT cocoa."

In retrospect, Ryou probably should have warned Bakura that the drink was going to be hot. But he, like all of us in this timeframe, know that the drink is supposed to be warm. Poor Bakura did not.

The thief choked on the liquid and yelped, managing to set the mug on the coffee table without spilling the drink and fanning cool air into his scorched mouth. He tried to get it to go down into his scalded throat with no success. "Hot…dear Ra that was _hot_," he gasped. "Wretched drink! It burned me!"

Ryou sighed, going for the paper towels to mop up the brown spots on the carpet. Although he was glad that he had someone in the house again to talk to, he had a sinking feeling that Bakura-related messes were in his immediate future.

* * *

Yugi frowned, tilting his head curiously at the tinsel. "Maybe a little higher and further to the left, Grampa," he said thoughtfully. "It's uneven."

From the ladder, Mr. Mutou did the necessary adjustment and then said, "I should have you doing this. I'm such an old man…whatever happened to 'respect your elders'?"

Yugi laughed. "Grampa, you climbed up there first. I would have done it, but you beat me to the punch."

The elderly man shook his head ruefully. "I should have done all of this a couple of days ago, but things around here got hectic in a tearing hurry," he stated.

Yugi nodded in agreement, resuming his previous task of dusting the glass counter off. "How are you doing with the vacuum, Atem?"

"I finished," said the Egyptian, leaning against the doorframe with an amused expression on his face.

The Mutous had figured on cleaning and dusting everything off before they settled down for Christmas Eve, so that they wouldn't have as much to clean when the holiday was over. Besides, the shop was supposed to have been cleaned last week, and they simply could not put it off any longer.

Atem's skin had remained its rich tan hue, much to everyone's surprise (including Atem himself); they had expected it to be temporary, but it seemed likely that the change was permanent. Atem, though surprised, was secretly pleased about it—he knew his heritage, and now he had proof to back it up.

Like their other friends, the Mutous and Atem had not done anything relating to Akira since the events of three days ago; they had been content relaxing and recovering from what had happened. Atem had said that they needed to find out about the other Millennium Item holders and see if they had gotten the Items back, but they also decided to wait and relax for just a bit. Their friends were grateful for the break, too.

Jounouchi had found out that his mother and sister had extended an invitation to spend Christmas with them in the neighboring city. He'd been ecstatic when he had found out, and after telling Honda and Otogi that his sister was not up for grabs (which was said more from habit than anything else) he had left the afternoon after the events at Akira's lair.

Anzu and Honda were spending Christmas with their own families; Anzu was still in town, while Honda had left yesterday morning and would not return until sometime after New Year's Day. Otogi was still in town, but he hadn't told anyone what his Christmas plans were and no one was sure where the raven haired CEO lived.

Ryou and Bakura were also in town and had originally intended to come over (much to Bakura's horror) on Christmas Day, but the thief had caught a cold at the last second which kept them immobile; Ryou promised he'd try and visit, "when I'm certain that Bakura won't burn the house down."

Seto had already made it clear that Yugi wasn't to bother him during the break: "I've filled my quota of Dweeb Patrol interaction."

This left Yugi, Atem, and Mr. Mutou by themselves for at least tonight and tomorrow; Anzu had promised to drop by the day after Christmas and Jounouchi had mentioned calling them sometime tomorrow. Honda had also promised to bring back a few souvenirs from where he was vacationing, and Otogi had mentioned something about a New Year's Eve Party at the Black Crown Arcade; Otogi would open it only for Yugi and his friends for New Year's.

Mr. Mutou carefully climbed down the ladder, picking it up as he touched the floor. "I'll go put this away," he said cheerfully.

"Be careful, Siamun," Atem warned, remembering how easy it was for Yugi's grandfather to hurt his back.

Mr. Mutou stopped what he was doing and looked to the Egyptian in confusion. "I've been called a lot of things, but I have to admit that isn't one of them," he said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Too late, Atem realized his mistake and flushed. "My apologies, Solomon. It's just—"

"It's all right," said Mr. Mutou simply, leaning the ladder against the inner wall of the closet. He closed it before turning to Atem. "Siamun does sound like Solomon…I don't mind if that slips up occasionally."

The former Pharaoh smiled gratefully at the older man but said nothing further.

They spent a few more minutes in the shop, straightening things out and cleaning all the surfaces, before Mr. Mutou declared that everything was okay to go and they could take a break. Yugi and his grandfather disappeared into the back of the shop, talking about decorating the Christmas tree upstairs, but Atem lingered behind for a moment.

The slip-up on Solomon's name had been out of habit; like his descendent, he too had someone who was like a grandfather to him and even looked similar to Solomon himself. Remembering that much had brought up memories of his past life and of those who had been in the afterlife with him, and it had hurt when he had realized that those people were not here any longer.

But when he thought about his past and then remembered where he was, Atem couldn't honestly say that he wanted to go back there. What had happened in the past was the past, and it really hadn't been much of one; he'd been killed not even a year after he had been on the throne.

Atem was being given a second chance at life—and he was going to take it.

Yugi's head came from around the corner of the doorway. "Come on, Atem. We're going to get started on decorating the tree here in a little bit. You don't want to miss out on that!" he said cheerfully, grinning broadly.

Atem hesitated a moment longer before he took a step forward. "I'm coming, Yugi," he said, a smile on his face.

* * *

With a sneer, the figure grasped the golden stem of the Millennium Rod and lifted it easily from the rocks it was caught between.

He'd seen a snatch of the battle between the Pharaoh and Zorc Necrophades, but he hardly cared about all that drama. No, he was far more interested about the other five Millennium Items that this Akira had collected. And true, most of them had scattered to the wind and most likely ended up back with their proper owners.

But he'd _called _to the Millennium Rod. He'd made sure to separate the Rod from the rest of the Items as they had started to scatter, and now he had it in his grasp once again. He could see his face in the reflection of the golden Rod, and a wicked, chilling smile stretched itself across his face as he looked down at it.

He looked around at the twisted metal and the rubble, realizing that he was where the battle had taken place; when he had called to the Millennium Rod it must have pulled him out from the shadows and back into the living world.

What a fitting place to be reborn.

He rose to his feet, the Millennium Rod clutched tightly in his grasp. A part of his blonde hair fell into his face, but he did not bother about brushing it away. He stumbled slightly, still unused to walking by himself after being trapped in the darkness for so long, but he hardly cared about that. He didn't care at all about the snow on the ground, since his dark cloak protected him from the cold.

He would wait. He was patient, he could wait until he was at full power again…and then, he would strike. He would fight the Pharaoh again, and he would beat him this time. Then he would go after his traitorous lighter half and his family—or maybe he would visit them first.

He turned to face the rubble once again and sneered at it before he walked forward, beginning to head for the twinkling lights of the city.

"Look out, Pharaoh," said Yami Marik wickedly. "I'm back."


End file.
